eChapters

Peri-parturient management is critical for reducing disease and mortality and ensuring healthy development of calves and replacement heifers. This chapter focuses on practical healthcare during the period surrounding birth and early life. Important areas include preparation for calving, neonatal care, colostrum management, hygiene, nutrition, disease prevention and monitoring of calf health. Proper colostrum feeding provides essential passive immunity and contributes to improved survival. Management practices during the calf and heifer stages influence future productivity and reproductive performance. The chapter emphasizes preventive care, early recognition of illness and appropriate management practices for producing healthy replacement animals.

Abstract

Agricultural practices prior to the eighteenth century were completely dependent on crop landraces and their mixtures. The knowledge of plant genetics and its application to crop improvement programmes led to increase the production potential of agriculture. Contrary to this, the wonders of crop improvement have resulted in the erosion of genetic diversity of many crops in farmers’ fields, including wheat, due to the replacement of landraces and farmers’ old cultivars with modern high-yielding cultivars.

Wheat is cultivated over an area of 216.6 million hectare globally and the production is 674.9 million tons. The seven largest producers of wheat are China, India, the Russian Federation, the USA, France, Turkey and Canada. During 2012-13, India produced 92.46 million tons of wheat from 29.65m ha area with productivity of 31.19q/ha (4th Advance Estimates, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of India). Three wheat species namely, T. aestivum L., T. durumDesf. and T. dicoccumSchubl are grown in India as commercial crops covering 95, 4 and 1 percent area, respectively. The cultivation of T. dicoccumis confined largely to the regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Abstract

Starch is a naturally occurring biodegradable polymer and readily available from agriculture. It is widely used in food and non-food applications and isolated from crops such as maize, potatoes, tapioca, rice and wheat. However, in recent years substantial progress has been made on the molecular structure of cereal and tuber starches and their impact on functionality, the following is a subjective summary that presents status of knowledge on isolation of starch from non-conventional source like Acorus calamus (sweet flag). The focus is on potential application of the source as food and non-food derivatives. Extensive work has been carried out on agronomic and phenotypic properties for most tropical crops, but relatively little study has been carried out on the properties which are of direct technical and economic interest to competitive food and non-food industry. Sweet flag (Acorus calamus L.) is an emergent macrophyte, originating in Asia, commonly found in European wetlands. Rhizome is the most important storage organ in Acorus. It contains considerable amounts of carbohydrates and nitrogen-rich compound. This species is growing to 6 feet, with long lanceolate leaves %-inch wide with pronounced midrib, aromatic, with stout rhizomes. The major proportion of total non-structural carbohydrates in rhizomes is starch (91-93% and 51-64% in rhizomes and roots, respectively). However, amount of starch varies among the organs as well. Rhizomes contain the highest amount of starch followed by branched roots and finally by unbranched roots. Rhizomes comprises single to compound grains, with clusters present in high frequencies. Non-conventional food resources and their value addition have attracted attention in the recent years for their potential use as functional ingredients in food formulations, besides food they have also been used for non-food applications. So there is tremendous potential for the profitable commercial use of these tropical starches and exploring them for further use.

Definition of Virus

According to Luria and Darnell (1968), Viruses are entities whose genome is a nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA, which reproduce inside living cells and use their synthetic machinery to direct the synthesis of specialized particles- the virions, which contain the viral genome and transfer it to other cells.

Nature of Virus

The physical and chemical nature of viruses eluded scientists until the 1930s. Stanley (1935) announced crystallization of Tobacco mosaic viruses, a feat for which he got a Nobel Prize. Stanley thought the crystals to be pure proteins. It was the pioneer work of F.C. Bawden and N.W. Pirie of England which showed that the viruses consists of proetein and nucleic acid. The chemical nature of viruses was settled. It consisted of nucleic acid and protein. The viruses chemically were proved to be nucleic acid. The mature particle of a plant virus is generally called virion and the whole infective particle is called as Nuclcocapsid.

Introduction

Everyone is familiar with the term start-up or entrepreneurship which refers to a process by which individuals start and manage their businesses and industrial enterprises. Entrepreneurs are people who take risks and invest their capital in businesses and industrial enterprises. Entrepreneurial in terms of personal development in terms of self-determination create take risks Therefore, anyone who exhibits the characteristics of self-development, creativity, personal decision-making, and risk-taking can be called a person with entrepreneurial characteristics. When these characteristics are exhibited by someone who is running a business, they can be called an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is the ability and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business enterprise, with all its uncertainties, in order to make a profit. The most prominent example of entrepreneurship is starting a new business. In economics, business activities involving land, labor, natural resources, and capital can generate profits.

Introduction

In 2030, 289 MT of food grain production will be needed in India, whereas 349 MT would be needed in 2050. India's agriculture is now facing several problems, including the well-being of farmers, deteriorating soil health, stagnant productivity, a declining water table, soil salinity, a decline in factor productivity, and the need to limit further expansion of irrigated land. The livelihoods of millions of small farmers are in peril because of ecologically destructive and unsustainable agricultural practices. Growing countries must increase their agricultural production systems to boost their economies, food supplies, and food and nutritional security (Gill et al., 2005). Previous research initiatives in Indian agriculture that focused on a single company were inadequate to ensure sustained increases in production. Among the f inest choices for low-income farmers is the integrated agriculture system (IFS). With IFS, several farm operations may be streamlined to increase productivity and income. Agricultural waste and trash are also recycled on the property. It is essential that farmers have a reliable source of income if they want to raise their living standards beyond the poverty level. To deal with the challenges of the current economic, political, and technological environments, it is vital to progress production or consistently raise output.

Abstract
Food webs are essential for understanding ecological interactions, and the discovery of trophic cascades marks a significant milestone in food-web ecology. Over the past four decades, debates on the prevalence and importance of trophic cascades have spurred extensive research and theoretical progress, yet the topic remains contentious. Trophic cascades, where alterations in one part of the ecosystem affect others, play a crucial role in shaping ecosystem structure and function. Rooted in foundational theories like the Green World Hypothesis, the concept has evolved to address more intricate ecological dynamics. Cascades often occur through top-down and bottom-up mechanisms, with top predators playing a key role in regulating ecosystems. This article explores their diverse impacts in aquatic environments, including changes in food web dynamics, biodiversity loss, water quality degradation, and disrupted nutrient cycling. Case studies, such as the otter–sea urchin–kelp system and Atlantic cod overfishing, highlight the profound consequences of these interactions. The findings underscore the importance of maintaining balanced trophic relationships to ensure ecosystem stability and resilience. Conservation efforts should focus on maintaining these dynamics to mitigate cascading effects and preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Keywords: Trophic cascade, Food web, Impacts and Case studies, Top-down, Bottom-up cascade, Ecosystem stability.

Biodiversity is the foundation stone of human survival on the earth. Very appropriately, the theme of the World Food Day celebration, 16 October, 2004 was “Biodiversity for Food Security” Biological diversity is fundamental to agriculture and food production. Scientists have identified so far about 1.4 million of the plant and animal species that exist on earth. A rich variety of cultivated plants and animals serves as the foundation for agricultural biodiversity. Yet people depend on just 14 mammal and bird species for 90 % of their food supply from animals. Just four plant species, namely, wheat, maize, rice and potato provide half of our energy from plants (FAO, 2004).

Summary

Nanotechnology, the science of nanoscale structures has been applied in various fields including in biomedical sciences. Nanotechnology is being increasingly used to create materials and devices so as to interact with the body at sub-cellular scales with a high degree of specificity. Nanotechnology is used in the fight against cancer, cardiac and neurodegenerative disorders, infection and other diseases. This chapter provides an overview of some of the applications of nanotechnology in the field of biomedical sciences particularly with a focus on tissue engineering and medical diagnostics.

For efficient nutrient use, most important factors are the timely supply/recycling of adequate amount of nutrients to the production system and its retention and release by soil for timely and ready availability in the root zone for its mobility to the plant in the presence of optimum moisture content in the soil. For keeping the applied nutrients retained in the root zone one has to reduce the soil erosion and leaching losses through technologies available in hand which include direct measures of soil and water conservation and maintain the soil aggregation and porosity through suitable tillage and organic residue recycling. For movement of nutrients into plant system we need to ensure optimum soil moisture content through water management.

Immunological Causes of Male Infertility

Immune mediated male infertility is an auto-immune disease.Spermatozoa are first produced at puberty and isolated from the systemic circulation by a structural barrier maintained by Sertoli cell tight junctions within the testis and the uninterrupted epithelial cell lining of the excurrent ductal system. Sperm production occurs well after the development of immunological tolerance to self antigens; therefore sperm specific components are viewed as foreign by the immune system. Whether spermatogonia, the primordial cell in spermatozoa differentiation, is also antigenically foreign is not established. What is known , is that immunization with sperm elicits a highly reproducible immune response that can impair fertility.

Antisperm antibodies are found in about 10-15% of infertile men. Immunity only to those antigens present on the surface of viable, motile sperm will impair fertility. Antibodies to internal sperm antigens, due to an immune response to sperm degraded in the genital tract or to cross reacting microbial antibodies present in the sera of many fertile individuals , are of questionable relevance to infertility. A number of spermatozoa antigens have been identified .

Introduction

The food processing sector is highly fragmented industry, it widely comprises of the following sub-segments: fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, beer and alcoholic beverages, meat and poultry, marine products, grain processing, packaged or convenience food and packaged drinks. A huge number of entrepreneurs in this industry are small in terms of their production and operations, and are largely concentrated in the unorganized segment. This segment accounts for more than 70% of the output in terms of volume and 50% in terms of value. Though the organized sector seems comparatively small, it is growing at a much faster pace.

The food processing industry can be classified into three categories: organized (25%), small scale (33%) and unorganized (42%) (Source: FAIDA/ Minstry of Food Processing Industries). The share of food processing in total manufacturing is only 9% in India.

Fermentation

The term fermentation is loosely used to denote any process in which microorganisms are involved, regards of whether or not the organism is growing in the presence of molecular oxygen. Thus, it can be defined as 'an ATP generating metabolic process in which organic compounds serve both as electron donor (becoming oxidized) and electron acceptor(becoming reduced). Energetically, fermentations are poor energy yielding process and products have lower energy content then the substrates. Since there is no net oxidation in fermentation, the number of molecules of C, H and O remain the same in products as in the substrate.

ABSTRACT

Cymbopogon khasianus (Hack.) Stapf. ex Bor. variety [IIIM (J) CK-10 Himrosa] is a commercially important aromatic grass of the family Poacae and contains high valued volatile constituents which has high demand in pharmaceutical, flavour, fragrance and cosmatic industries. This plant variety is one of the rich source of two monoterpenoids, geraniol and ocimene. Geranoil is an alcohol frequently used as terpenoid fragrance material, and ocimene is a group of isomeric hydrocarbons. The present communication deals with the herb yields, volatile constituents and agrotechnology of CK-10 Himrosa. The volatile constituents vary from season to season and from geographic locations of cultivation. Data presented were collected from field trials and experiment works conducted on farmer field at Balesar area of district Jodhpur (Rajasthan). It has been observed that [IIIM (J) CK-10 Himrosa] is rich in geraniol whose percentage varies from 70-80%, cisocimene (10-11%) trans-cimene (5-6%) geranyl acetate (2-3%), and various others constituents present in minor quantities. For analysis of volatile constituents, Gas Chromatography–Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and GC-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) methods were developed. Agronomic data indicate substantial variations in the essential oil compositions, which varies due to season of harvest and place of cultivation. This crop is hardy in nature and from future perspectives; extension of these aromatic crops in rainfed and saline areas could brought un-utilized barenlands and wastelands under cultivation. Biomass and essential oil obtained from this crop would be helpful in development of new value added products. This may serves as economic crop for marginal farmers and helpful in gaining international recognition after development of products in the form of perfumes, soaps, cosmetics and other products for human use.

Government of Andhra Pradesh has identified Horticulture sector as one of the growth engine with a focus to increase the production, productivity and quality all horticultural crops coupled with value chain development and marketing linkages for better price realization. Total area under horticultural crops is 17.95 lakh ha with a production of ` 314.78 lakh tonnes. Horticulture sector has recorded 10.17 % growth over previous year and contributing ` 49,189 crores during 2020-21 to GVA of Andhra Pradesh (DH, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, 2021).

Women empowerment refers to the process of enabling women to increase their control over their lives, resources, and decision-making power. It involves promoting gender equality, challenging gender stereotypes, and addressing the social, economic, and political barriers that prevent women from reaching their full potential.

The Government of India declared 2001 as the ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment and the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women came into force from 2001. The policy approaches that were underlined in this policy concerned gender equality. The policy proposed that the legal system be made responsive and gender sensitive to women’s needs. It stated that women should be economically and socially empowered through focused efforts.

Women Empowerment has Several Dimensions

1. Economic Empowerment: Access to education, employment, credit, and other economic resources.

2. Political Empowerment: Participation in decision-making processes, leadership positions, and political representation.

3. Social Empowerment: Challenging gender stereotypes, promoting gender equality, and addressing social norms that limit women’s potential.

4. Legal Empowerment: Access to justice, legal rights, and protection from discrimination and violence.

5. Psychological Empowerment: Building self-esteem, confidence, and self-reliance.

Abstract
Fish populations are essential for global food security, marine biodiversity, and the health of ocean ecosystems. However, threats such as climate change, overfishing, and habitat degradation jeopardize their sustainability. Understanding fish population dynamics is vital for effective fisheries management and conservation. Insights into environmental factors affecting fish distribution, migration, and spawning are derived from oceanographic data collected using advanced technologies such as satellites, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), and remote sensing. By integrating these data with fish population models, predictive capabilities are enhanced, enabling proactive management and conservation efforts. Despite technological advances, data gaps and the complexity of biological and environmental interactions pose challenges. Integrating big data and artificial intelligence offers promising opportunities to improve predictive accuracy, optimize real-time fishery management, and tackle sustainability challenges effectively. This article discusses the role of oceanographic data in predicting fish population dynamics, the technologies involved, and the challenges facing current models.
Keywords: Fish population dynamics, Oceanographic Data, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), Forecasting models.

Agribusiness as a concept is dynamic in nature and kept on evolving over time since it was first used during 1950s. Downey & Erickson defined agribusiness to include “all those business and management activities performed by firms that provide inputs to the farm sector, produce farm products, and/or process, transport, finance, handle or market farm products”. Chait, referred to it as agriculturally related businesses including warehouses, wholesalers, processors, retailers and more. In the developed countries, agribusiness is defined as the total output arising from farm production and product processing at both pre- and post-farm gate levels. However, in developing countries like India, the agribusiness sector encompasses four distinct sub-sectors, viz. agricultural inputs; agricultural production; agro-processing; and marketing and trade. All these add value or utility to the goods. Agribusiness is emerging as a specialized branch of knowledge in the field of management sciences. In this context, agribusiness can be defined as science and practice of activities, with backward and forward linkages, related to production, processing, marketing, trade, and distribution of raw and processed food, feed and fiber, including supply of inputs and services for these activities.
Examples
• Vermi compost
• Poultry Farming
• Mushroom Farming
• Bee Keeping
• Livestock Feed Production

Abstract

The main objectives of this paper are to know the variability in sustainable growth of banks through the various advantages of the banks participation in commodity market along with identification of the possible strategies to more participation in Indian commodity markets by the banks. The data collected through the structured questionnaire from the 150 respondents. The SPSS 16.0 version was applied to derive the results. The techniques of frequency and the regression analysis applied to infer the results. The study found that 46.5 percent variation in sustainable growth was explained through the investment portfolio and hedging for commodity price volatility and also there was a significant difference between each other and higher returns through the diversified portfolio was more responsible towards the sustainable growth as a reason of banks participation in commodity market. The study also found that 98.7 percent of variation in sustainable growth was explained through the various advantages of the banks participation in commodity market and also found that increase in banks customer incomes was more favourable response towards the sustainable growth and it was followed the lower interest rates for borrowers and the lower volatility and also there was a significance difference from these variables to the dependent variables. It is suggested that there should be a appropriate training programmes of the bank officials to more participation in commodity market through the diversification of portfolio to increase the more returns.

India is located between 8^°- 38^° N and 68^°- 97^ºE and exhibits extreme variation in altitude — from sea level to heights above vegetational limits in the Himalayas (ca 4500 m), and climate — from monsoon- tropical in south to temperate and alpine in the north-western Himalayas and extremely arid to semi-arid in the north-western plains. It is floristically extremely rich with about 33 percent of its botanical wealth (over 15,000 species of higher plants) being endemic. There are about 141 endemic genera distributed over 47 families. Further, of the 4,900 endemic species, larger percentage is localised in the Himalayas (about 2,532 species) than in other regions, namely, the peninsular tract (1,788 species), and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (185 species). It is also estimated that floristic richness is maximum in the north-eastern region, which holds about 50 percent of India’s total species diversity, i.e., more than 7,000 species, and is considered as the cradle of flowering plants. Of 990 species of orchids, 700 species occur in this region (Nayar, 1989). This, thus, makes the Indian region botanically unique and interesting (Arora, 1991).