eChapters

This chapter introduces Calla Lily as an attractive bulbous ornamental crop valued for its colourful spathes, foliage and long-lasting cut flowers. It examines origin, distribution, genetics and botanical characteristics of Zantedeschia species. The chapter covers protected cultivation, varieties, environmental requirements, propagation, nutrition, irrigation, pest and disease management, harvesting, grading and postharvest handling. It also highlights the commercial potential of Calla Lily in international markets and its emerging importance in Indian floriculture

All agriculture universities have three main Directorates – Education, Research and Extension. Of the three, I have often observed that Extension Department comes in for maximum criticism. ‘Loose links’and ‘need to do much more in transfer of knowledge and technology’ are frequently emphasized at various levels – especially in meetings with farmers groups.

This is understandable – as it is said that less than 10% - often less than 6%, of lab scale knowledge and development reach the farmers fields in developing countries and even in many ‘developed’ counties. The situation is much more challenging when we consider a large population of small and marginal farmers – who as we saw can play extremely important role in eco-agriculture. A large percent of such farmers – women and men are practicing eco friendlyagriculture without realizing it. Their ‘ignorance’ can be converted in to advantage and new opportunity. The age old extension practice of reaching farmers through meetings, visit , seminars, camps, demonstrations all have limitations and need to be ‘scaled up’. New developments in information and communication Technology offer a great opportunity for a big jump in reaching the unreached. Again to alarge population of ‘Green Revolution’ – there is a new hope and opportunity.

Rice-wheat is a dominant cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains covering approximately an area of 10.5 million ha. Modern agricultural production practices have emphasized the widespread use of fertilizers as a source of nutrients. The continuous use of high levels of chemical fertilizers over a prolonged period, decline in area under legumes and reduction in the use of organic manures has resulted in soil degradation and environmental pollution. It is estimated that the gap between nutrient removal by crops and addition through fertilizers in India will remain at level of 8-10 million tones per annum. Such negative nutrient balances are depleting the soils of their nutrient reserves resulting in acute deficiencies of nutrients. Integrated plant nutrient supply (IPNS) is an important component of sustainable agricultural intensification. The goal of integrated nutrient management (INM) is to integrate the use of all natural and man-made sources of plant nutrients, so as to increase crop productivity in an efficient and environmentally benign manner, without diminishing the capacity of the soil to be productive for present and future generations. The INM is made up of components which possess great diversity in terms of chemical and physical properties, nutrient release efficiencies, positional availability, crop specificity, and farmers’ acceptability. Since organic manures cannot meet the total nutrient needs of modern agriculture, integrated use of nutrients from fertilizers and organic resources seems to be a need of the time. For INM to make desirable progress and find wide acceptance, nutrient supply packages for important agroecological environments need to be developed. These should be technically sound, practically feasible, economically attractive and socially acceptable. Integrated plant nutrient systems can ensure long-term sustainability of agricultural growth through improvement in soil health and will significantly reduce the needs for chemical fertilizers. The complementary use of chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers may increase the efficiency of chemical fertilizers in order to maintain a high level of crop productivity. Because of low primary nutrient content and thus the need for large applications per unit area, farmers and policy makers are often reluctant to adopt and promote the use of organic fertilizers. The different components of INM possess great diversity in terms of chemical and physical properties and nutrient release patterns.

Data mining is becoming an increasingly important tool to transform the data into information. In recent years, data mining has been widely used in area of Bioinformatics for better understanding of gene expression, drug design, and other emerging problems in genomics and proteomics. Data mining is used to understand gene expression analysis, searching and understanding of protein mass spectroscopy data, 3D structural and functional analysis and mining of DNA and protein sequences for structural and functional motifs. For the first several hundred years of research in biology, the main bottleneck to scientific progress was data collection. Our new found data-richness, however, has shifted this bottleneck from collection to analysis. Biomedical literatures have been increased at the exponential rate. To find the useful and needed information from such a huge data set is a daunting task for users. Text mining is a powerful tool to solve this problem and it is used for biological knowledge discovery.

Liquid nitrogen and cryocan

Several cryogenic agents like solid carbon-di-oxide (-79^ºC), liquid air (-183^ºC), liquid helium  (-263^ºC) and liquid nitrogen (-196^ºC) have been used in many countries for freezing and preservation of bovine semen. Liquid nitrogen is fourth coldest substance known and its small amount is converted into a very large amount (near about 700 times) of its volume when exposed to atmosphere. It is a colourless, odorless, non-irritant, non-toxic, non-caustic, non-corrosive, non-inflammatory and inert gas having boiling point of -196^ºC. Being a liquid it comes into good contact with the surface of the semen straws, constant storage temperature is maintained throughout the straw, and due to these properties LN2 is most widely used refrigerant for semen cryopreservation in the world. 

Probiotics have been newly defined as ‘live microbes which passage the gastrointestinal tract and in doing so benefit the health of the consumer differing from the earlier definitions which focused on probiotic interfaces with original intestinal microbes (Fuller, 1989). These definitions of probiotic bacteria generally agree that probiotic bacteria should be living organisms toward consult health benefits. Probiotics have been reported to play a therapeutic role by modulating immunity, lowering cholesterol, improving lactose tolerance and preventing some cancers (Kailasapathy and Chin, 2000).

A refrigerant is heat transfer medium through which phase change occurs from liquid to vapour i.e. evaporation at low temperature and pressure in the evaporator and then the phase change occurs from gas to liquid i.e. condensation at high pressure and high temperature in the condenser. The cycle of phase change of refrigerant, continues in the refrigeration system.

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is a set of tools and techniques used with households to gather and analyse information on community resources, problems, potential and needs.

Why is PRA used?

Look at how a village or community is now and what it could be.

Look at problems and what’s causing them.

Help families find ways to deal with problems and take advantage of opportunities.

There are three sizes of rabbit farms: small, medium, and giant. Initially, their owners typically had a small number of does and a stock of growing bunnies for their personal use. Rabbit farms began expanding and selling animals when butchers began to sell rabbit meat. Breeds, housing conditions, feeding practices, and management strategies were all developed in accordance with the increase in does. In Europe, backyard stock owners have a mediocre interest in expertise. 

4.1.1 Vertical row planting pattern

1. Square system: In this system, trees are planted on each comer of a square whatever may be the planting distance. This is the most commonly followed system and is very easy to layout. The central place between four trees may be advantageously used to raise short lived filler trees. This system permits inter cropping and cultivation in two directions.

2. Rectangular system: In this system, trees are planted on each corner of a rectangle. As the distance between any two rows is more than the distance between any two trees in a row, there is no equal distribution of space per tree. The wider alley spaces available between rows of trees permit easy intercultural operations and even the use of mechanical operations.

4.1.2 Alternate row planting pattern

3. Hexagonal system

• In this method, the trees are planted in each comer of an equilateral triangle.

• This way six trees form a hexagon with the seventh tree in the centre.

• Therefore, this system is also called as 'septule' as a seventh tree is accommodated in the centre of hexagon.

• This system provides equal spacing but it is difficult to layout.

• The perpendicular distance between any two adjacent rows is equal to the product of 0.866 x the distance between any two trees.

• This system accommodates 15% more trees than the square system. The limitations of this system are that it is difficult to layout and the cultivation is not so easily done as in the square system.

What is a Farming-Based Livelihood System?
At its core, a farming-based livelihood system is one where agriculture (crop production, livestock rearing, or a combination) forms the primary source of income, food security, and overall well-being for a household or community. It’s more than just growing food; it’s an interconnected system involving:
• Production Activities: This includes all the activities directly related to farming, like:
º Crop cultivation (e.g., cereals, fruits, vegetables, cash crops)
º Livestock rearing (e.g., cattle, poultry, goats, pigs, aquaculture)
º Agroforestry (integrating trees and shrubs into farming systems)
º Soil and water management
• Assets: These are the resources available to the farming household. Key asset categories are often described as:
º Natural Capital: Land, water, soil quality, biodiversity, climate.
º Physical Capital: Infrastructure (irrigation, roads, storage facilities), tools, equipment, livestock.
º Human Capital: Skills, knowledge, labor availability, health, education.
º Financial Capital: Savings, access to credit, insurance.
º Social Capital: Networks, community organizations, access to information, trust.

This chapter introduces carnation as an important commercial cut flower requiring controlled environmental conditions for producing long, straight and high-quality stems. It discusses varieties, propagation, planting, irrigation, nutrition and cultural practices such as pinching, disbudding, deshooting and plant support. The chapter also addresses plant growth regulators, pest and disease management, harvesting, grading, storage and postharvest handling. Emphasis is placed on protected cultivation practices that improve flower quality, yield and market value.

Electron Microscope

An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a particle beamof electronstoilluminate a specimen and createa highly-magnified image. Electron microscopes have much greater resolving power than light microscopes that use electromagnetic radiation and can obtain much higher magnifications of up to 1 million times, while the best light microscopes are limited to magnifications of 1000 times. Both electron and light microscopes have resolution limitations, imposed by the wavelength of the radiation they use. The greater resolution and magnification of the electron microscope is because the de Broglie wavelength of an electron is much smallerthan that of a photon of visible light.

The electron microscope uses electrostatic and electromagnetic lenses in forming the image by controlling the electron beam to focus it at a specific plane relative to the specimen. This manner is similar to how a light microscope uses glass lenses to focus light on or through a specimen to form an image.

Management can be viewed as a group effort towards a common goal in which team behaviour plays the important role. According to this view, the material resources and external environment are common to all management; what makes for effectiveness and success of one group relative others is management - that is, the human element - behaving in group and leading the business to its determined goal.

Management may in short be called a science of decision-making or a science of choice. A farmer has to make judicious decisions on the use of scarce resources, having alternative uses to obtain the maximum profit and family satisfaction on a continuous basis from the farm as a whole. In other words, management seeks to help the producer in deciding problems like what to produce, how much to produce and when to buy and sell and organization and managerial problems relating to these decisions.

Management – Definition

According to Lawrence A. Appley, management is an art of getting things done through the efforts of other people.

1 What is the isolation distance for raising foundation seed in bottle gourd? 

 a) 800 m b) 700 m

 c) 600 m d) 500 m

 2 Roguing of off-type plants in bottle gourd seed production should be done at how many stages?

 a) Three b) Four

 c) Two d) Five

 3 Where are bottle gourd seeds stored after extraction?

 a) Open containers b) Shade

 c) Air tight containers d) Open

Introduction

All enzymes are proteins, except a tiny subset of catalytic RNA molecules. Most of the classical metabolic enzymes are named by adding the suffix -ase to the name of their substrates or to a descriptive term for the reactions they catalyze. For example, urease has urea as a substrate. Alcohol dehydrogenase catalyzes the removal of hydrogen from alcohols (i.e., the oxidation of alcohols). A committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB maintains a classification scheme that categorizes enzymes according to the general class of organic chemical reaction that is catalyzed The six classes are Oxidoreductases, Transferases, Hydrolases, Lyases, Isomerases, and Ligases.

The integrity of their natural protein structure is necessary for their catalytic activity. Catalytic activity is typically lost when an enzyme denatures or dissociates into its constituent subunits. An enzyme’s catalytic activity is always eliminated when it is disassembled into its constituent amino acids. Thus, the catalytic activity of protein enzymes depends on their primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures. Aside from their amino acid residues, certain enzymes don’t need any other chemical groups to function. Others need a cofactor, which is an extra chemical element. Cofactors can be complex organic or metalloorganic molecules called coenzymes, or they can be one or more inorganic ions like Fe2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, or Zn2+.

SYNOPSIS

Food is an essential element without which human being cannot survive. We need it for our maintenance and growth everyday and through the longevity of our life. As we understand food, it is a bunch of essential elements which is essentially needed for the engine of human body to run non-stop. The understanding of food is much required by masses who consume it every day. The present paper attempts to describe the knowledge on food, feeling on food by consumers, prevailing food, hunger and malnutrition, healthy food and studies required on consumable foods.

Introduction

Peas (Pisum sativum L., 2n = 2x =14) are consumed as fresh vegetables or dry seeds throughout the world. In India, peas are grown as winter vegetable in plains and as summer vegetable in the hills. As field pea, it occupies about 0.45 m ha area in India, accounting for only about 2% of the total pulse area. About 90% of its area and production is limited to Uttar Pradesh alone. The area under vegetable peas is on increase. The acreage of vegetable pea in India is 2.72 lakhs ha with a productivity of 9.9 tons/ha. Pea is a rich source of protein (7.2% in green pea & 20 % in dry pea) and minerals (0.8%).

The geographical region comprising of Central Asia, the Near East, Abyssinia and the Mediterranean is considered as centre of origin based on genetic diversity. According to Blixt (1970), the Mediterranean is the primary center of diversity with secondary centers in Ethiopia and the Near East.

Garden pea, seeds have been observed in archeological excavations of Mohan Jodaro and Harappa, there are distinct hot weather tolerant and round-seeded varieties which carry high resistance to fusarium wilt and powdery mildew (Erysiphe polygoni). These varieties have a different use as a pulse crop for meeting protein requirements of common people. These are considered as intermediate stages of domestication of the present day vegetable (garden) pea, which is sweet and wrinkled-seeded. In fact, the quick spread of Arkel variety, an introduction from England in seventies, has displaced some of the native round-seeded varieties like Asauji, Hara Bonia, Hoshiarpuri, Kaparkheda, Kalanagni, Lucknow Bonia etc. there is need to conserve these valuable germplasm, before they are swept away by genetic erosion.