eChapters

Gale : Wind of force 8 or above blowing continuously and damaging trees, houses etc.

General Circulation : The average general distribution of wind in motion on the Earth. This general circulation includes the scientific description of atmospheric dynamics not only statistically but also from the point of view of physics. The global wind systems like westerlies, trades, etc., are the examples of general circulation.

General Circulation Model : At present, there are different models in vogue, to explain the general circulation of the atmosphere. If the general circulation is modelled in a three dimensional procedure, then it is known as a general circulation model.

Geopotential : The potential energy per unit mass of a body due to the earth’s gravitational field referred to an arbitrary zero.

Haboob : Sudanese name for duststorm or sandstorm with strong winds that carry small particles of dirt or sand into the air, particularly severe in areas of drought.
 
Habitat : A place where a plant or a community of plants or a crop is existing.

Hadley Cell : A mean thermally driven atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises and flows away from the equator at upper level and descends at the tropics. Wind moves from the tropics back to equator poleward. In many cases this term is also referred to as ‘Hadley circulation’.

Hail : Solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces if ice (hailstones) with diameter ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm or even more. 
Hailstorm : A storm, often too long and severe, consisting largely of hail or frozen rain drops ranging in diameter from 5 mm to 10 mm or more. 

Ice Caps : A perennial ice/snow cover over an extensive area of land or sea, found only around the two geographic poles.

Ice Columns : Ice crystals resembling stubby pencils rather than the delicate branched snowflake shape. Columns typically form in the temperature ranges -5° C to -8° C (23° F to 18° F) and below -25° C ( -13° F). They are long in comparison to their hexagonal cross-section.

Ice Crystals : 1) Hexagonal (6-sided) crystals that form upon freezing of water, may be in one of several shapes : stars, needles, plates, columns or combinations of these forms. 2) Precipitation in the form of slowly falling, singular or unbranched ice needles, columns, or plates, may be called diamond dust.

Ice Fog : Fog composed of minute ice particles that occur in very low temperatures (typically - 30°C or - 22°F & below) under clear, calm conditions in the polar latitudes. 

January Thaw : A period of mild weather, usually following a cold spell, which often occurs in late January in the eastern regions of North America, particularly around the Great Lakes region, New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. The thaw is associated with a strong flow of warm air northward from the Gulf of Mexico on southerly winds on the back of a high pressure system.

Jet Stream : A relatively narrow band of high-speed winds, generally greater than 50 knots (57 mph or 93 kmph), found in the upper troposphere above regions of strong horizontal temperature contrasts such as fronts. The major jet streams are the subtropical jet and the polar jet stream.

Joule : The unit of work or energy. In mechanical systems, this is the work done when a force of one Newton displaces the point of application by a distance of one metre in the direction of force. In electrical systems, a joule is the equivalent of moving one coulomb through a potential difference of one volt. One joule is equal to one watt per second

Katabatic Wind : Downslope gravitational flow of the colder, denser air beneath the warmer, lighter air results and comprises the katabatic wind. It is also known as the drainage wind or mountain wind.

Kelvin Temperature Scale : An absolute temperature scale in which the zero point is absolute zero. The scale is based upon the triple point of pure water and the size of the degree is same as on the celsius scale. So the 273.16 K = 0°C. That means the freezing point of water is 273.16 K and boiling point of water is 373.16 K, etc. This is more commonly called as the absolute.

Lake Effect : The effect of any lake in modifying the weather and climate along its shore and inland which depends on the size of the lake. In some areas such as the North American Great Lakes, lake effect refers to snowfall generated by the lake on the downwind shore.

Lake Effect Snowfall : Snowfalls along the lee shore of a lake or downwind some distance from the shore caused by the modification of cold, subfreezing air by the relatively warmer lake water. The intensity of the lake-effect snowfall depends upon several factors : the temperature contrast between the lake surface and the air passing over it, the over-water distance the air has traversed (the fetch), and the regional weather situation. 

Macroclimate : It deals with the study of atmosphere over large areas of the earth and with the large scale atmospheric motions that cause weather. It helps in forecasting weather. OR Climate of a continent or over the complete globe.
 
Macrometeorology : A branch of meteorology concerned with the study of large scale meteorological phenomena over a continent or the entire globe.

Macroscale : The meteorological scale covering an area ranging from the size of a continent to the entire globe.
 
Marine climate : Almost similar and on many occasions used as a synonym to maritime climate. The climate is basically influenced by adjacent seas and oceans.
 
Maritime Climate : The climate experienced in areas and regions near the oceans and seas. It is characterised by hot dry summers and mild wet winters. The diurnal variations of temperature are small and air is with high relative humidity.

Nanometre : The unit of length specifically applied to wavelengths of radiation. This is equal to ten Angstrom units or 10-9 meters.

Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) : It is increase in dry weight of plant per unit leaf area per unit time. NAR is calculated from the following equation : 

Oasis effect : Vertical energy transfer from the air to the crop. It is the exchange of heat between a growing crop and hot air whereby air over the crop is cooled.
 
Observation : In meteorology, the evaluation of one or more meteorological elements, such as temperature, pressure, or wind, that describe the state of the atmosphere, either at the earth’s surface or aloft. An observer is one who records the evaluations of the meteorological elements.
 
Occluded Front : Also known as an occlusion, it is a complex front formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front. It develops when three thermally different air masses conflict. The type of frontal boundary they create depends on the manner in which they meet.

Pan Coefficient (Kp) : It is the ratio between reference evapotranspiration (ET_o ) and water loss by evaporation from an open water surface of a pan (E_pan ).
    K_p = ET_o / E_pan

Peat soil : An organic soil containing more than 50 per cent organic matter.

Pan Evaporation : is the value of evaporation from an open pan evaporimeter (usually from standard USWB, class ‘A’ pan evaporimeter) during a day or specified period at a place.

Parcel : A volume of air small enough to contain uniform distribution of its meteorological properties and large enough to remain relatively self-contained and respond to all meteorological processes.

Q₁₀ : The number of times the rate of a process (physical, chemical or physiological) increases with a 10^ºC increase in temperature. If the rate of the process is doubled Q₁₀ is 2. Q₁₀ for respiration is 2 to 3.

Quantum : Unit of energy emitted by a photon.

Quantum Flux Density : The number of quanta from a source, incident on a unit area of a small surface situated in a perpendicular direction.

Quantum Irradiance : The number of quanta from a source incident on a unit area of a surface. This differs from the ‘quantum flux density’ as far as direction is concerned.

Rabi : The winter crop season in India from November to April. Main crops grown in rabi comprise wheat, mustard, etc.

Rad : The ‘rad’ is the unit of radiation dose and is defined as the total absorbed dose of 100 ergs of energy per gram of tissue in a unit time.

Radar : An electronic instrument used to detect objects (such as falling precipitation) by their ability to reflect and scatter microwaves back to a receiver. The radar is used for detecting tropical cyclones and monitoring their course as they approach the coast.
 
Radar sonde : A system in which both meteorological and wind data may be obtained, as in radiosonde.

Radiance : Radiant flux per unit area per unit solid angle. Radiance has unit of watts per meter per meter per steradian. The radiance of a perfectly diffuse surface (Lambertian) is independent of the viewing angle.

Saffir-Simpson Scale : A scale relating a hurricane’s central pressure and winds to the possible damage it is capable of inflicting.
 
Sand Storm : An ensemble of particles of dust or sand energetically lifted to great heights by a strong and turbulent wind.
 
Santa Ana Wind : A warm, dry wind that blows into southern California from the east off the elevated desert plateau. Its warmth is derived from compressional heating.
 
Satellite Imagery : Images formed from data collected by a weather satellite that reveal visual information on the nature of the atmosphere such as the flow of water vapour, the development and movement of weather systems, or the distribution of the temperatures of cloud tops or the earth’s surface.

Saturated Adiabat : Any statistically valid thermodynamic diagram on a graph related to adiabatic change under saturated conditions of an air parcel. 

Taiga (Boreal Forest) : The open northern part of the coniferous forest. Taiga also refers to sub-polar climate.
 
Tail Wind : The wind that assists the further movement of an object by blowing in the same direction in which the object is actually moving.
 
Tangent Arc : An arc of light tangent to a halo. It forms by refraction of light through ice crystals.
 
Tcu : An abbreviation sometimes used to denote a towering cumulus cloud (cumulus congestus).
 
Teleconnections : A linkage between weather changes occurring in widely separated regions of the world. 

Ultraviolet Radiation : Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is one form of radiant energy coming from the sun. The sun emits a range of energy known as the electromagnetic spectrum. The various forms of energy, or radiation, are classified according to wavelength (measured in nanometers (nm) where one nm is a millionth of a millimeter). The shorter the wavelength, the more energetic is the radiation. In order of decreasing energy, the principal forms of radiation are gamma rays, X-rays, UV (ultraviolet radiation), visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. Ultraviolet, which is invisible, is so named because it occurs next to violet in the visible light spectrum. Ultraviolet radiation contains the wavelengths between 30 and 400 nm. The UV band is divided into three sub-bands in regard to its biological impacts :

Vacuum : A space in which there is no air or gas. This is more an imaginary situation. This term indicate the air or any other gases at the minimum possible pressure in a space.
 
Validation : Model validation in its simplest form is a comparison between simulated and observed values. Validation is determining whether the model works with totally independent data sets or not and whether it accurately predicts growth, yield and processes by comparing the values predicted by the model with those obtained from the real experiment.

Walker Circulation : A thermally driven longitudinal cellular circulation over equatorial oceans, particularly Pacific Ocean, Peruvian coast, etc. These circulations rise in the West and sink in the East.
 
Warm Air : If the temperature of air is relatively warm as compared to an underlying surface or another adjacent air column or within itself, then the air is said to be warm air.

Warm Front : A front whose movement is such that the warmer air mass is replacing colder air mass.
 
Warm Sector : The state of lower troposphere in between a warm front and the following cold front. 

Xlokk : The name of a hot, dry wind that blows regularly in Malta.
X-rays : The electromagnetic radiation in the wave length region below 100 angstroms.

Year : The time taken by the earth to revolve once in its orbit round the sun.

Yellow Snow : Snow which has a yellow or golden colour due to the presence of pine or cypress pollen in it.

Zenith : The point directly overhead on the celestial sphere.
 
Zenith Angle : The angle formed by the local line perpendicular to the surface on which the radiation falls, and the position of the Sun in the sky from which the incident ray falls. 

India has witnessed a phenomenal increase in food grains production since Independence, and achieved a record harvest of about 259 million tonnes in 2011-12. Similarly, there was an impressive record production of pulses : 18.1 and 17.2 million tonnes in 2010-11 and 2011-12,  respectively. However, to meet the increasing demand of the continuously rising population, about 2 to 3 million tonnes of pulses have to be imported every year costing the country about Rs.3000 crores in foreign exchange. Despite the changes in the dietary habits, pulses in India are still considered an important source of proteins, particularly, for the poor. However, the per capita availability of pulses has been declining over time decreasing from 60.7 gm/day in 1951 to about 32 gm/day in 2010 mainly due to stagnant production (except in recent years), rising demand for consumption and other uses. Further, pulses play an even greater role in maintaining and enhancing soil fertility through nitrogen (N₂) fixation.

Pulses, grown on marginal and poor soils under low input management with very low yields, are the integral part of dryland farming systems and cover 12.8% of the total cropped area in Andhra Pradesh. There are no pulse based cropping systems in the state and they are only component crops of cereals or commercial based cropping systems as intercrops or catch crops in between two main crops or as sequence crops after exhaustive cereal or commercial crops raised on residual fertility and receding soil moisture. The important pulse crops grown are Chickpea, Pigeonpea (Redgram), Mung bean (Greengram) and Urd bean (Blackgram) which contribute to 97.7% of total pulse production in the state. Pigeonpea is mostly grown as intercrop under rainfed conditions with crops like sorghum, maize, castor, cotton etc. It is also grown as sole crop and at times, pigeonpea is intercropped with greengram/ blackgram.

Assam is surrounded by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh on the North; Nagaland and Manipur on the East; Meghalaya and Mizoram on the South and Bangladesh, Tripura and West Bengal on the West. The total land area of Assam is 78,523 sq. km and it accounts for 2.4% of total geographical area of the country. Demographically, Assam is the most populous state in the North East India. Economically, out of eight North East states, Assam is the most developed one, but compared to other states like Maharastra, Tamilnadu, Gujrat, it lags far behind in almost all economic spheres.

Pulses are considered to be the most effective means of overcoming protein and micronutrient malnutrition since they are excellent sources of dietary protein (19-25%), besides being rich in important minerals and vitamins (Ali and Kumar, 2004). In Bihar, people are mostly vegetarian in dietary habits and depend largely on pulses as the source of dietary protein. But production of pulses has not kept pace with the population growth and per capita availability of pulses has thus, declined from 61 g/day in 1950-51 to less than 28.0 g/day in 2001 as against 70 g/day the standards prescribed by ICMR. Moreover, in Bihar the contribution of cereals in total protein consumption is more than 73.0% which is not a healthy trend as cereal proteins lack many essential amino acids that are present in the pulses from which only 10.6% of total protein intake come in the diet of rural population. This alarming situation, perhaps, has arisen largely due to the quest for food security rather than nutritional security, being the prime national agenda. According to an estimate, more than 70% of gross cropped area in the state is occupied by paddy and wheat whereas, only 9.0% of it is shared by the pulses.

Rice is the principal crop of the region and cultivated in 3.9 million hectares area with an average productivity of about 1.3 t ha-1, which is very low. Irrigation resources are limited and confined to only 26 per cent and utilized for rice crop only. The region has rice based cropping system, in which lathyrus (grasspea),  is grown as utera (relay crop) in 0.46 million hectares. However, its productivity is not more than 2 to 3 q ha-1. Pulse crops are cultivated in an area of 0.44 m ha in kharif and 0.81 m ha in rabi season. The main pulse crops of the region are lathyrus, black gram, pigeonpea, chickpea, horsegram (kulthi), lentil and field pea. Area-wise, urd in kharif and lathyrus in rabi occupy the top position but as far as productivity is concerned, pigeonpea and chickpea are important. Pigeonpea and chickpea together can contribute a lot in increasing the pulses production in region. The average productivity of pigeonpea is 5.19 q ha-1 . It is also grown on rice bunds, which may give an additional production of 0.06 mt. Mung and urd are grown throughout the year in the region, however, powdery mildew and yellow mosaic virus diseases pose severe threat to these crops.

Gujarat grows more than half a dozen pulse crops on  7.84 lakh hectares  area with an annual production  of 6.09 lakh tonnes and a productivity of 777 kg/ha. Amongst these, pigeonpea, chickpea, greengram, blackgram, cowpea, mothbean and clusterbean are the important pulse crops grown in the state. Mothbean, greengram and clusterbean are the predominant pulse crops grown in arid region of North Gujarat, though other pulses are also grown on a sizable area. Despite this distinction of being the largest producer, the availability of pulses is far from satisfactory which is evident from the fact that per capita availability has not kept pace with the population increase and has declined to merely 28 g/capita/day as against the mandated minimum and optimum quantity of 80 and 104 g/capita/day, respectively, as per WHO standards. As a result, with 11 per cent of the world’s import, it is also the largest importer of pulses.

Viable cropping systems involving new rewarding crops infuse new opportunities and challenges as well as demonstrate the potential for land productivity with higher growth and economic achievements.  As far as agricultural production is concerned Haryana is a surplus agricultural state and is one of the largest food supplier to the national kitty. The cropping patterns have undergone drastic changes over the years with a major shift in favour of cereals like paddy and wheat. Consequently, the existing cropping system viz. paddy-wheat, has started showing its adverse effect on soil health and consequent decline in crop productivity. Diversification of existing system by involving pulses, vegetable, fodder and other high value crops, is considered to be the potential alternative to address many present day problems. For example, under assured irrigation, pearlmillet-potato-moongbean gave almost 65% higher yield than the existing cotton-wheat cropping system because the leguminous crop in summer gave higher economic yield and benefit to pearlmillet crop. The package of practices with focus on pulses crops grown in Haryana state are discussed here.

Pulses occupy an important place in hill agriculture. They are complementary to cereals in production and consumption being an important source of protein and nitrogen fixing ability which helps in improving soil health. Thus, cultivation of pulses has a positive relationship with our environment, human health and food security. Pulses produced in the hills are famous for their cooking quality, taste and flavour.
 
Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a model hill state in which agriculture is a dominant economic activity and major source of employment and income to the rural people. Being a hilly state, agriculture is practiced on about 10% of the geographical area. Out of which nearly 80% is rainfed. During the last three decades, the farming scenario has changed significantly. The area under fruits, vegetables and cereals has increased tremendously at the cost of pulses and oilseeds. There is, therefore, an urgent need to reverse this trend as pulse cultivation will not only increase soil health but save precious foreign exchange.

The geographical area of the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 8, 24,900 ha with 86.9 % of it under reserve and protected forests. The humid tropical climate that prevails in the Andaman and Nicobar islands provides a unique opportunity to grow various crops. Owing to a number of factors, hardly 4.8% of the area is under cultivation. Maximizing the productivity and farm income mainly depends on effective management of natural resources like rain, soil, land as well as labour present in the Island ecosystem.  On an average, the Islands receive 3074 mm of rainfall distributed over 8 months. The rainfall is intense from June to September and may have even up to 30 rainy days per month sometimes, however, from January to April, the rainfall is scanty or absent, particularly in March. The undulating terrain results in severe water crisis during the period which is aggravated by higher evapotranspiration. The Islands receive south-west monsoon from May to September and north-east monsoon during October to January. The topography of A&N Island is undulating with a stiff terrain exposed to soil erosion due to heavy rainfall.  The crop growing season can be divided in to two major seasons viz., wet 
and dry seasons.

Pulses are important crops in the State of Jammu and Kashmir as they are the only source of protein, an essential part of the vegetative diet. Besides that, pulses enrich the soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the root nodules and improve the soil structure (Thakur et al., 2009). The tap root system explores the deeper soil strata and heavy leaf litter increases the soil organic matter. Pulses in J& K state are ideal crops for mixed and inter-cropping as well as vegetable and fodder crops. It has been estimated that by 2020 the pulse requirement for Jammu region of J&K alone will be 1.51 lakh tonnes (based on average per capita consumption of 68 grams for the projected population of 60.75 lakh) whereas the estimated requirement of J&K state as a whole works out to be 3.85 lakh tonnes (Digest of Statistics 2008-09).

Jharkhand, a newly created (15 November, 2000) state having total geographical area 79.72 lakh hectares, net sown area 18.1 lakh hectares with cropping intensity 114%, is rich in natural resources such as minerals, coal, soil, water, forest cover (29.3%), biodiversity but deficient (50%) in food grain production because of meagre irrigation facilities (10% of cultivated area) in absence of perennial rivers. This state is primarily rainfed and crop production largely depends on monsoon. The south-west monsoon contributes nearly 85% of rain water. Accordingly, the success or failure of crop production is closely linked with the onset, progress and withdrawal of monsoon. Delay in onset, intermittent dry spell (1-3 weeks), early withdrawal of monsoon are also usually observed. Failure of rain has adverse impact on the reproductive phase of rainy season crops and thus on crop yield as well as establishment of winter season crops. Sometimes high rainfall (140 mm/day) coupled with light soil texture and undulating topo sequence provides congenial environment for soil erosion with runoff. This also offers opportunity for water harvesting. Infact, soil and water are the two basic natural resources which must be conserved and utilized efficiently on long term basis.

In Karnataka, pulses are being cultivated in an area of about 20 lakh ha (about 17% of cultivated area) and the important pulse crops of the state are pigeonpea, chickpea, greengram and blackgram (Table 1).  In addition, horsegram and field bean (Dalichos lab) need a special mention, as they occupy a unique position among pulse crops especially in Southern Karnataka. However, major pulses like pigeonpea chickpea, greengram and blackgram are confined to few districts in Northern Karnataka, although some area is distributed throughout the state. Compared to the average productivity of nation (560 kg/ ha), the Karnataka state productivity is low (505 kg/ha). In spite of the best efforts, the progress made in improving the overall production as well as productivity of these pulse crops is not significant as compared to the cereals.

The total area under pulses in Kerala during 2008-09 was 3943 ha with a production of 2982 tonnes. The average yield per hectare is 756 kg. Cowpea, greengram, black gram and red gram are the important pulse crops traditionally grown in Kerala. Nearly 75% of area under pulses cultivation is occupied by cowpea. The remaining 25 per cent of area under this group of crops in the State is shared mainly by greengram, black gram and red gram. Among these, red gram is mainly confined to the Palakkad district and the crop season extends over kharif and rabi together. The other pulses are cultivated in all the districts of the State. Bengal gram is totally imported and there is little scope for its development in Kerala.

Madhya Pradesh is a major pulse producing state of the country and more than half a dozen of pulses are grown on 48.99 lakh  ha area with an annual production of 41.73 lakh tonnes and average productivity of 852 kg/ha (Table 1).  The pulses production share of Madhya Pradesh is 28.6% to national pulses production. Amongst the pulses, chickpea, pigeonpea, moong, urad, lentil and field pea are the important crops of the state. These crops contribute about 3296 thousand tones to national pulse basket from an area of about 4318 thousand hectares (Table 2). Among the pulse crops grown in the state, chickpea accounts 76% in production from 60% area. Second important pulse is lentil (13%) followed by uradbean (12%), pigeonpea (8%), field pea (5%) and mungbean (2%) with percent share of 8, 5, 7, 3 and 1 in production, respectively. The area and consequent production of pulse crops in the state showed, in general, an increasing trend since 1981 till date (Table 2 and Fig.1). Linear increase in yield of these crops from 531 kg/ha to 764 kg/ha in this period is also witnessed as the impact of technological advancement in these crops in the recent past. Natural calamities mostly drought in few to most of the districts is the main reason of low productivity in triennium ended in 2004.

Maharashtra state is located in the north centre of Peninsular India. The topography of the state is the outcome of its geological structure. The state area, barring the extreme eastern Vidarbha region, parts of Kolhapur and Sindhudurg, is practically co-terminous with the Deccan Trap. The state enjoys a tropical monsoon climate; the hot scorching summer from March onwards yields to the rainy monsoon in early June. The rich green cover of the monsoon season persists during the mild winter that follows through an unpleasant October transition, but turns into a dusty, barren brown as the summer sets in again. The seasonal rains from the western sea-clouds are very heavy and the rainfall is over 400 cm on the Sahyadrian crests. The Konkan on the windward side is also endowed with heavy rainfall, declining northwards. East of the Sahyadri, the rainfall diminishes to a meagre 70 cm in the western plateau districts, with Solapur-Ahmednagar lying in the heart of the dry zone. The rains increase slightly, later in the season, eastwards in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.

Pulses occupy an area of 0.18 m ha with total production of 0.12 mt in NE Region. This region is one of the potential areas where pulse production can be increased horizontally by utilizing a part of 16.72 lac ha area under jhum cultivation (Bujarbaruah, 2004). Considering that pulses could be grown mixed with other crops and their feasibility for relay cropping; the area and production of pulses could be increased vertically. Intercropping system not only covers the risk but also give a bonus yield of pulse crop in addition to normal return of the main crop. Maximum area and production of 0.11 m ha and 0.60 mt which is 60.90 % and 51.28% of the total area and production of the region, respectively is contributed by Assam only. After Assam, Nagaland and Tripura are the major pulse growing states having 30 and 8 thousand hectares of area with 28 and 5 thousand tonnes of production, respectively. In Meghalaya, pulses are grown on 5 thousand ha area and 4 thousand tonnes of pulses were harvested. Other states of this region grow pulses in about 6-7 thousand hectares area and produce 3-6 thousand tonnes (Table 1). The productivity of pulses in all the states is 1000 kg/ha except Assam and Manipur where its productivity is only 500 kg/ha. The average pulse productivity of all the NE States (661 kg/ha) is higher than that of whole India (637 kg/ha)

Pulses are the second most important group of crops next to cereals in Orissa occupying about 22% of total cropped area as compared to 54% for cereals. The state grows ten pulse crops, namely, greengram, blackgram, pigeonpea, horsegram, lentil, gram, cowpea, Rajmash, Lathyrus and ricebean out of which the first four crops cover 88% of total pulses area and 85% of total pulses production.
 
During 2008-09, pulse crops in Orissa were grown in about 20 lakh ha having production of  9.94 lakh tonnes and average productivity of 497 kg/ha (Table 1).

Pulses play an important role in improving the soil health through biological nitrogen fixation. These crops also help to conserve natural resources and therefore help to conserve natural resources and sustain the agricultural productivity. With almost one-fourth population below the poverty line, the recent steep hike in prices has made the availability of pulses for this section of society even more difficult, thus, further jeopardizing both food and nutritional security.

The average productivity of pulses (Table 1) is only 460 kg/ha but it ranges from 199 kg/ha (Moth bean) to 1719 kg/ha (Field pea). Year to year fluctuation in productivity of different pulses was also observed. The highest productivity i.e. 1067 kg/ha was observed during the year 2006-07 & the lowest productivity i.e. 497 kg/ha was recorded during the year 2008-09. The trend of area under pulse crop during the last ten years has also shown a wide fluctuation. Year to year and crop to crop variations are most pronounced.  The crop wise major pulse growing districts in Rajasthan are as follows.

The average productivity of pulses (Table 1) is only 460 kg/ha but it ranges from 199 kg/ha (Moth bean) to 1719 kg/ha (Field pea). Year to year fluctuation in productivity of different pulses was also observed. The highest productivity i.e. 1067 kg/ha was observed during the year 2006-07 & the lowest productivity i.e. 497 kg/ha was recorded during the year 2008-09. The trend of area under pulse crop during the last ten years has also shown a wide fluctuation. Year to year and crop to crop variations are most pronounced.  The crop wise major pulse growing districts in Rajasthan are as follows.

Tamil Nadu state is situated at the south-eastern extremity of the Indian peninsula bounded on the north by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, in the east by Bay of Bengal, in the south by Indian Ocean and in the west by Kerala state.  The state has a coastal line of 922 km and a land boundary of 1200 km. Tamil Nadu lies between 8°5’ and 13° 35’N latitude and 76°15’ and 80°20’E longitude. The total geographical area of Tamil Nadu is 13.03 m ha.

Pulse crops provide nutritious food, feed and fodder and thrive well in fragile eco-systems where other crops often fail. They have the ability to trap atmospheric nitrogen in their root nodules in association with Rhizobium, bringing qualitative improvement in soil health i.e. physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil.  These virtues enable pulse crops to remain an integral part of subsistence farming system of semi-arid tropics as well as of Indo-gangatic plains. The role of pulses has also been recognized for sustaining soil productivity under intensive cropping systems in irrigated conditions.

Pulses are an essential source of protein in the diet of the vegetarian population. Cultivation of pulses has been a long-standing tradition in Uttarakhand, where the availability of alternative sources of protein such as meat and milk is barely sufficient to fulfill the daily dietary requirements. Pulses assume big importance in these rainfed and environmentally harsh regions by being an ideal crop for the prevalent low-input agricultural conditions. In Uttarakhand, pulses not only form the major constituents of the staple diet but also serve as an important source of feed and fodder for the livestock. Pulses also improve the soil health by fixing atmospheric nitrogen as well as by increasing soil organic matter

Pulses are recognized as an integral part of Bengali as well as Indian diet and the ideal supplement of cereals by virtue of their high protein and essential amino acid content.  Pulses are inseparable ingredients of vegetarian diet and one of the cheapest sources of dietary nutrition protein in the state. The present emphasis on soil health, environmental quality and economic consideration, has stimulated a paradigm shift in cropping patterns leading to pulse based cropping systems. Any cropping system can become compatible and complete only when a pulse crop is included in it. Pulses won a strategic position in intensive as well as subsistence agriculture, as they are excellent source of dietary protein for millions of people, nutritional feed for livestock and having profound ameliorative effect on soil.

Definitions

        Toxicology: Knowledge (or science) of poisons, including their chemical properties, identification, biological effects, and the treatment of conditions they cause.

        Poison: Any solid, liquid, or gas that, when introduced into or applied to the body, can interfere with the life processes of cells of the organism - by its own inherent chemical properties - without acting mechanically and regardless of temperature.

Arsenic
General Information
    1.    Exists in elemental form (-3), trivalent As⁺³ and pentavalent As⁺⁵ oxidation states
    2.    Arsenic is an essential element for rats, chicks, mini-pigs and goats
    3.    The second most important pollutant for livestock. 

Source
    1.    Inorganic form is used in paints.
    2.    Pasture near smelters may be contaminated. 
    3.    Industrial effluents released into nearby water body
    4.    Insecticides (Arsenic trioxide, lead arsenate).
    5.    Herbicides (Sodium arsenite, lead arsenate)

Nitrate - Nitrite Poisoning
Sources
Accidental ingestion/grazing of Plants which are Nitrate accumulators 

Introduction

Plants are the main source of nutrition to farm animals for their maintenance and production. But, under certain conditions, plants intoxicate farm animal life due to the presence of some deleterious substances called phytotoxins. Such plants include a variety of fodder plants (Jowar, wheat straw, Lucerne), grasses (Millet grass), ornamental or fencing plants (Crotons, Nerium sps) and weeds (Tribulis) in the farm premises.

Introduction

The word mycotoxin is derived from myco, meaning mold and toxin, a poison. A great number of mold metabolites have been identified as mycotoxins. Thus mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites (i.e., metabolites not essential to the normal growth and reproduction of the fungus) which cause pathologic, physiologic, and/or biochemical lesions in other species (may include animals, plants, other microbes, etc.).

Introduction

In the thirst of modernization and industrialization man has contributed pollution to the life and ecology of plants, animals and microbes. Increased demand for food and fiber has lead to the chemicalization of agriculture and we have reached on such a stage that modern agriculture is dependent on high yielding varieties, which can only be grown under the influence of fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides are the man made chemicals which are being used to produce enough cheap food. In India, 90,000 MT of technical grade pesticides are used annually to control pests and plant diseases. The pesticides are classified as insecticides, fungicides, weedicides, herbicides, nematodicides and rodenticides; of which insecticides constitutes 77% of the total pesticides used in different agricultural and animal husbandry practices and in public health operations.