eChapters

Abstract

Training is for improvement of a person. Training is no longer optional. In the 21st century, an organization’s capacity to effectively train its people is part of its ability to survive.  And if that capacity isn’t there, or if it is defective, then the organization itself will reveal that flaw in a number of destructive ways, including loss of bottom line profits. Needs identification will help to identify the necessary and relevant issues for proper planning and implementation. Needs identification is the first logical step to determine and justify the requirement for training in the first place. It acts as a prognosis of an organizational ailment. There are various methods and techniques to identify needs which are then categorized into four major categories : democratic, diagnostic, analytic and compliance needs. Since none of the technique is self sufficient in nature it is advisable to have a combination of techniques so as to get the true result i.e. the actual training needs. Need analysis is the next step in the training process to determine training for whom, why and what. The three major components of needs analysis are organizational/strategic analysis, task analysis and person analysis. Organizational analysis involves determining the extent to which training is congruent with the company’s business strategy and resources.

Abstract

Mentoring is a personal enhancement strategy through which one person facilitates the development of another by sharing known resources, expertise, values, skills, perspectives, attitudes and proficiencies. The concept of mentoring is not new. Guru – Shishya traditions in every old civilization are the examples of mentoring by which culture, technology and knowledge have been successfully disseminated from older generation to newer generation. Being an important career building factor, now more emphasis is given to develop mentoring relationship in organization level. In office culture mentoring facilitates an environment in which an individual grows both as a person and as a professional.

Abstract

Leadership behavior is seen in every group of social animals like elephant, honey bee, human being, etc. Initially people thought this behavior as inborn character and only few lucky people possessed it. But now it has been proved that this character can be developed by interested people through systematic training. In every family parent are playing the role of either leader or manager and being a role model gradually transmitting this behavior to their children from childhood itself. Training begins at home of every successful leader.  In this article the characteristic features of leaders, style of their functioning, leadership theories and the difference between a leader and a manager are discussed in details. Important tips have been mentioned to follow for becoming a good and successful leader.

Abstract

Stress can be due to both positive as well as negative experiences, which also forms a necessary part of our daily lives. If we consider an evolutionary standpoint stress was necessary for survival (i.e., imagine hunting large prey on which one’s entire tribe is dependent) and in our modern lives also stress is important as it motivates us for the fulfillment of tasks and changes. Pressure is felt from the environment during transition period ( like at the time of high school graduation) and in preparation for some events (like job interview). Although stress can be a motivation tool, too much stress or inability to cope up with stress can have an adverse effect on the health of an  individual. This chapter represents the study on stressors, various sources of stress, outcomes of stress, and various strategies which will help an individual to cope up with stress. The study is supported by case studies which helps in understanding the chapter more clearly.

Abstract

No one is born with the gift of good time management skills and it is rarely taught at schools or universities. The ways to manage time and get the things done is something which has to be developed and implemented by an individual himself. We need to find out the perfect method that will suit us. We may often wish to get more time but we only get 24 hours, 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds each day. The perfect ways to utilize time depends upon skills learned through self analysis, planning, evaluation and self control. Establishing a time management depends on individual’s personality, ability to self motivate and level of self discipline. The objective of this chapter is to focus on benefits of time management, tips for time management, steps for time management and various techniques of time management. The study is supported by case studies which will help in understanding the chapter thoroughly.

Abstract

Whenever human beings come together and interact, there are bound to be conflicts. It is the struggle between individuals or groups or organizations for values, status, power or scare resources, that creates tension and frustration. It cannot be totally eliminated, it has to be managed. Positive conflicts sometimes lead to innovations or new directions of thinking in the Research and Development (R&D) environment. But negative conflicts mainly breed unproductiveness, a climate of distrust and suspicion, antagonism, and neglect of organizational goals. Conflict arises due to one of the three reasons : unacceptability, uncertainty and incomparability of alternatives. The problem of unacceptability arises when the most preferred alternative is not found to be acceptable. Uncertainty arises when the individual faces problem to select one from the alternatives. The incomparability dilemma is a situation where the decision maker does not have standards to compare alternatives. Modern managers must be equipped to deal with different types of conflict and devise strategies to resolve them. This chapter deals with conflicts at individual level, at group level or at organizational level, their resolution through negotiation or collaboration, models and methods for managing conflicts, etc in details. A healthy organization climate can unblock creative potential of its employees, streamlining and facilitating efforts for the good of the organization and its employees.

Abstract

Workplace has become more and more complex due to tremendous pressures and high expectations and it poses heavy demand on the managers and leaders to exhibit their emotions smartly and intelligently. Thus, in the present scenario social and emotional competencies are considered as very important ingredients of individual’s efficiency and effectiveness at workplace. Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, value and effectively apply the power and access of emotions as a source of human energy, information, trust, creativity and influence. Present chapter elucidates different models of emotional intelligence and role of culture and sociological factors in defining emotional intelligence.  It also explains the four cornerstone model of emotional intelligence. These four cornerstones made emotional intelligence moved out of the preview of psychological analysis and philosophical theories into the domain of direct knowing, exploration and application. These are emotional literacy, emotional fitness, emotional depth and emotional alchemy, which are significant in the organizational context. Finally chapter describes about different measures of emotional intelligence.

Abstract

The professionals carry additional moral responsibilities as compared to the general population and in society the professionals are capable of taking actions and decisions in a situation which the general public cannot take due to the lack of relevant training and knowledge. Ethics are used world-wide in large companies as well as in small businesses. Ethics is required to be promoted in the work place since it gives employees a sense of trust and worth that can help the business and employees succeed. The client places trust in the professional on the basis that the service provided will be of benefit to them. The purpose of this chapter is to study about need of ethics, types of professional ethics, moral principles of professionals and ethical decision making. Further the study is supported by case studies to make the chapter more relevant.

Abstract

This chapter highlights the need of performance appraisal. It discusses various measures and methods of performance appraisal with respect to organizational goals. Performance counseling, when used as a part of performance appraisal is a strong motivational tool for the employees and results in organizational effectiveness. The issue has been discussed from the perspective of employer and employee

Abstract

The major objective of this chapter is to examine how knowledge management initiative can bring competitive edge and help organizations to compete in a knowledge era. People now viewed as being the most valuable asset and ‘people management’ being a pertinent issue in knowledge management, the pivotal role of HR is being increasingly recognized by the organizations in a knowledge economy. The chapter starts with a discussion on the nature of knowledge management, theory, and process and then explores the role of human resource practices in facilitating the KM process in organizations. The author examines how different HRM practices like talent management, performance management, training and development, fostering trust, reward systems, institutionalizing learning systems and leadership can be linked with the knowledge management process to achieve competitive advantage.

Abstract

Human resource management (HRM) has experienced a strong evolution. It is necessary to evaluate the design and implementation of personnel policies in order to provide useful information to managers. The objective of HR Audit is to analyze and evaluate the HR policies and their level of fit with the firm’s strategy and the characteristics of human capital. A periodic and systematic audit is very important in order to check the effectiveness and proper implementation of various HR policies in the organization. This chapter will represent various sections where the HR audit can be carried out, what should be the task of auditors, what are the steps/processes that needs to be followed at the time of audit, and various tools for HR Audit and preparation of Audit Report to be used for future references. At the end of this chapter a case study has been presented in order to make the study more effective.

Introduction

Under the present scenario of growing human population and shrinking land and water resources for agriculture, expanding abiotic and biotic stresses, increasing genetic erosion; relentless efforts are needed to enhance the plant productivity as well as quality of produce. In fact, improvements in agricultural production as well as food and nutrition conditions depend on land, water and energy resources, which are, undoubtedly, limited and depleting at a rapid pace.

Biotechnological innovations in conjunction with conventional technologies have opened new frontiers in agriculture thereby offering exciting opportunities for increased sustainability and profitability in agriculture. Thus, biotechnological tools complement (rather than replace) the traditional methods used to enhance the agricultural productivity to cater to the needs of third world agriculture (Swarup and Srivastava1990, Rao et al. 1996).

Indian crop production system excels in front of several biophysical adversities commonly known as biotic and abiotic stress.  Water is the principal factor limiting crop yield and about 2/3 of total cultivated landing India comprise of Dry land agriculture primarily under rainfed conditions with no or limited water supply system.  The Indian production systems are dominated by cereals, primarily rice maize, sorghum, pearl millet other coerces and fine cereals leguminous (urd bean, mung bean, peanut) and oil yielding crops during kharif and  wheat barley chickpea, lentil and forage legumes in rabi  season.  The production systems are generally characterized by cereal/legume mixed-cropping dominated by maize, millet, sorghum and wheat. The major constraints in both regions to crop production are low soil fertility, insecure rainfall, low-productive genotypes, low adoption of improved soil and crop management practices, and lack of appropriate institutional support. choice of crop  is important but selection of right varieties is utmost  important because  varieties which have proven excellent in irrigated or high rainfall areas are generally not suited for limited irrigated conditions.

Vegetable occupy an important place in diversification of agriculture and have played a pivotal role in food and nutritional security of ever growing population of our country. The vegetable requirement of our country is estimated at 225 million tonnes by 2020 (Paroda, 2020) against only 134 million tonnes in 2009-10 (NHB, 2010). India is facing, today, with stagnation in crop productivity and slows down in agricultural growth. Declining soil health and fertility is considered as one of the factor for such a decline. The restoration of soil health and fertility is, therefore, a formidable challenge before us to ensure higher and sustainable productivity, profitability and national food and nutritional security.

Introduction

The increasing concern about the long-term productivity of agro ecosystems has emphasized the need to develop a management strategy that maintains and protects the soil resources. This is directly related to the maintenance of the level of soil organic matter and nitrogen status, which are the critical components of soil productivity. These parameters can change over time due to crop management practices such as cultivation, crop rotation, residue management or fertilization which, in turn, can influence the long-term sustainability of ecosystem. Application of chemical fertilizer is one of the most expensive inputs in agriculture. About 65% of the applied nitrogenous fertilizer is lost from the plant–soil system through gaseous emissions, runoff, erosion and leaching which causes greenhouse effects and nitrate pollution of surface and ground water (Rejesus and Hornbaker 1999). Similarly, P applied in soil is rapidly fixed and results in low P availability for plant production. In this context, the deployment of microbial biofertilizers promise increasing soil nutrient availability in integrated nutrient management system.

Introduction

Seed is regarded as carrier of new technologies. Therefore, the seed needs to be protected so as to deliver it as an efficient input. When seed is planted during an environmental stress like heat or drought chemical reactions in the seed may not go as smoothly as when the seed is under little or no stress. All the crops are liable to face varying degree of water stress and it is most crucial at the time of germination and plant establishment. Successful stand establishment under all conditions is the key to assured production. The early sown varieties of various crops faces the problem of heat stress at early vegetative stage. Moreover, due to global warming there is uncertainty regarding the physiological response of crops to enhanced atmospheric temperature. Any significant change in climate on a global scale directly affects crop production and then would impact local agriculture.

Nursery is a place like a crèche, where young tender seedlings are nurtured before planting in the field. The healthy, sturdy, vigorous and diseas free seedlings can establish well in competitive environment. Generally, vegetables like tomato, brinjal, chilli, pepper, cauliflower, cabbage, knol khol, lettuce, onion, Brussel’s sprouts are raised through seedlings. But skyrocketing cost of hybrid seeds and high premium of early harvest warrant the attention of cucurbits growers to produce the nursery, Nursery raising has certain advantages over the direct seeding like:

Though a large number of insect pests are reported to attack mango, which cause considerable damage to mango crops in India. More than 492 species of insects, 17 species of mites and 26 species of nematodes have been reported to be infesting mango trees, about 45 per cent of which have been reported from India. Almost a dozen of them have been found damaging the crop to a considerable extent causing severe losses and, therefore, may be termed as major pests of mango. These are hopper, mealy bug, inflorescence midge, fruitfly, scale insect, shoot borer, leaf webber and stone weevil. Of these, insects infesting the crop during flowering and fruiting periods cause more severe damage. The insects other than those indicated above are considered as less injurious to mango crop and are placed in the category of minor pests. A brief description of the biology and control of major pests of mango is given below. Mango suffers from several diseases at all stages of its life. All the parts of the plant, namely, trunk, branch, twig, leaf, petiole, flower and fruit are attacked by a number of pathogens including fungi, bacteria and algae. They cause several kinds of rot, die back, anthracnose, scab, necrosis, blotch, spots, mildew, etc. Some of these diseases like powdery mildew are of great economic importance as they cause heavy losses in mango production. Major pests and diseases of mango and their control measures are discussed below.

Introduction

In India ,the increasing demographic pressure with developmental activities are causing tremendous pressure in utilization of natural resources leading to various kinds of ecological problems and land degradation. The Govt. of India has for long considers watersheds as catalysts for development activities in rain-fed areas. Watershed, simple stated as a manageable hydrological unit. Watershed development approach calls for an integrated effort of many courts, viz, area development, resource identification and management programme- planning, implementation and evaluation and also the disciplines and functionary involved. An integrated approach in watershed management, the development of agricultural land alone is not the criteria, but the development of the entire area covering a watershed from highest point (ridgeline) to outlet of the Nalah or natural stream will have to be considered.  For scientific development of watershed area, all natural resources such as water, land, human, vegetation, livestock, wildlife etc. have to properly identified, quantified, and appropriately utilized.

Sustainable crop production depends upon the rational use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides along with organic manures for better soil health. Owing to the constant production of crops from the soil, the latter is being depleted gradually of its nitrogenous and other nutrients. An ordinary crop takes about 25 lb of nitrogen (N) from an acre. It is, therefore, necessary to replenish the soil with the elements, which are removed by the crops year after year. Moreover, in recent years increasing fertilizer costs, and concern for sustainable soil productivity and ecological stability in relation to use of chemical fertilizers, have emerged as issues of vital concern. Furthermore, heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers tends to favour economically those farmers with large hectarage. These considerations have led to a renewed interest in the biofertilizers and organic manures such as FYM, compost and green manures. Biofertilizers which are formulations of bacteria, blue green algae or fungi helps in sustainable agriculture production either by providing plants with fixed nitrogen, available P or by other plant growth promoting substances. Organic matter (OM) is the life of the soil because it contains all the essential elements required for plant growth.

1. Introduction

In the field of sustainable agriculture our main aim to produce high quality, safe and affordable food for ever-increasing worldwide population. Today, global agriculture is at crossroads and this is the consequence of climatic change, increased population pressure and detrimental environmental impacts. Furthermore, agricultural growers and producers have the additional constraints of economic profitability and sustainability. During the last couple of decades excessive amounts of chemicals are used to improve plant health, productivity and for management of plant pathogens, which has disturbed the ecological balance of soil and has led to the depletion of nutrients. Therefore, there has been ever-increasing interest to develop new mechanisms to ensure food security through sustainable crop production system that will supply adequate nutrition without harming the agroecosystem. Plant growth in agricultural soil is influenced by many abiotic and biotic factors. There is a thin layer of soil immediately surrounding plant roots that is an extremely important and active area for root activity and metabolism which is known as rhizosphere.

Introduction

The fast development of technology for increasing production ignoring the agroecosystem resulted in disturbed natural cycles. The result is visible in terms of unsustainabiliity in agroecosystem. In addition, increasing use of chemical pesticides for the management of soil-borne plant pathogens had caused pollution of soil, surface and ground water besides affecting the crop produce and ecosystem. The pendulum of public opinion once so favourable to chemical control has gone against chemicals and advocated phasing out the chemical pesticides. Revival of the natural balance is therefore needed for sustainable farming with eco-friendly methods such as bioagents/biopesticides, soil solarization, botanicals, etc. Organic farming is one such approach which emphasis on maintaining the natural cycle with eco-friendly approaches.

Mites have been known as pests of agricultural and horticultural crops since long but now they rank as very serious pests and vectors of many plant diseases. The application and extensive use of pesticides, fertilizer and improved cultural methods have probably favoured increase of the population. Mites as crop pests are confined to certain group of the other acari. Near about 20,000 species have been described of the total mite fauna on a world basis. From India, 660 species of phytophagous mites have been described and nearly 30 species are reported as potential pests (Gupta 1987). Phytophagous mite belongs to family - Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemidae, Eriophyidae and Tuckerellidae. These mites cause direct damage like loss of chlorophyll, stunting of growth, defoliation, reduction in size and quality of fruits, appearance of various types of plant deformities etc. and all these severely affect the yield. Besides causing direct damages, few phytophagous mites inject toxic substances in to their hosts, which cause increased localized growth and disruption of tissue (Jeppson et al. 1975), and many species belonging to family – Eriophyidae are known to act as vectors of plant viruses. The dust entangled in the web formed by tetranychid mites on leaves prevent the sunlight reaching the leaf surface and as result photosynthesis is impaired, the leaves turn pale, yellow and fall down. This affects the vitality of the plant.

The contribution of agro biodiversity to world agricultural production is immense. The world agricultural landscape is now dominated by few crops and varieties. This agricultural scenario is suicidal because the homogeneous plant population is vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stresses. The ecosystems rich in biodiversity possess greater resilience and hence able to recover more readily from biotic and abiotic stresses, such as drought, environmental degradation, pests, diseases, epidemics, etc. Hence, a decline in biological diversity puts the functioning of ecosystems at risk. The cultural value of biological diversity conservation and sustainable management for present and future generations is another important reason for conserving it for posterity. To tide over the precarious condition of food insecurity, rich crop germplasm must be sustainably managed to tap the potential of crop genetic resources. The sustainable management of agrobiodiversity is therefore very essential for developing adaptation strategies in the era of global climate change.

Introduction

Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute a major segment of the flora, which provides raw materials for use in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and drug industries. The indigenous systems of medicines, developed in India for centuries, make use of many medicinal herbs. These systems include Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and many other indigenous practices. More than 9,000 native plants have established and recorded curative properties and about 1500 species are known for their aroma and flavour. In one of the studies by the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that 80 per cent of the population of developing countries relies on traditional plant based medicines for their health requirements (WHO 1991). Even in many of the modern medicines, the basic composition is derived from medicinal plants and these have become acceptable medicines for many reasons that include easy availability, least side effects, low prices, environmental friendliness and lasting curative property. India and China are the two major producing countries, having 40 per cent of the global biodiversity and availability of rare species. These are well known as the home of medicinal and aromatic crops that constitute a segment of the flora, and provide raw materials to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, fragrance, flavour etc. industries.

Introduction

India produces 77.51 million tones of fruits of which only 10-20% are processed and rest are used as fresh (Singh 2010).  The post harvest losses are estimated to be in the order of 20-40%.  In terms of value it exceeds Rs.2000/- crores annually (Chadha 1989).  Processing of fruits under arid conditions is all the more important due to non-availability of fresh produce throughout the year in rural areas.  However, the area and production under arid fruits are increasing day by day in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat.  As a result seasonal glut has started in the local market and growers are not able to get the remunerative prices of their produce. In our country over 70% of the Indian population resides in village and are engaged mainly in farming and related activities besides their exclusive involvement in domestic work. Keeping above points in view, Agro-based technology should be developed for rural masses to create gainful employment by increasing the productivity through value added processed from arid fruits.

Biotechnology is one of the most exciting and revolutionary sciences of 21st century. According to Convention on Biological Diversity, biotechnology is defined as “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use”. Biotechnology has proven its immense applications at every step of human life such as, health care, crop improvement, development of valuable products and abatement of environmental problems. Agricultural biotechnology is the area of biotechnology involving its applications to agriculture. Agricultural biotechnology has been practiced for a long time, as people have sought to improve agriculturally important plants/ organisms by selection and breeding.

Introduction

Seabuckthorn (Hippophae Spp) a treasure house of vitamins, belonging to the family Elaeagnaceae, and it is a valuable medicinal plant, since its fruit contain high amount of bioactive substances. It is a thorny, temperate bush, tree and is widely distributed throughout the dry temperate regions of Europe and Asia. As the name indicates Seabuckthorn, the plant grows from sea level to high altitude mountain regions but mainly distributed in higher elevations of Indian Himalayas, from Ladakh (J & K) to Lahaul - Spiti (H.P.), Kumaon and Garhwal in Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh (Chauhan 1999). It is seen under natural conditions Seabuckthorn grows on slopes, well drained soil with silt, river banks, lakes, sea shores & waste lands. It is well adapted to dry conditions. Seabuckthorn the wonder plant of cold arid Himalaya, grows in wastelands, dry rocks and along river belts in Indus, Nubra, Chanthang, Suru, zanskar and Lauhal - Spiti valleys in India (Singh and Chaurasia 2000).

The major challenge of the present time in agriculture is implementing sustainable development and meeting the food needs of increasing population simultaneously. Agricultural extension always remains an integral part of National Agricultural Policy. At present, agricultural extension has a crucial role to play in the context of growing demands of agricultural production in a sustainable manner. In this situation extension’s traditional task of transferring and disseminating appropriate technologies and agronomic practices would not be sufficient. There is need to view extension for sustainable development in an institutional strengthening context, both in functional and structural.

Laboratory animal science (LAS) advances scientific understanding of the care and use of animals that play a key role in research supporting the development of biomedicine. National and provincial laws, regulations, guidelines and standards apply to quality control and licensing, quarantine and infectious disease control, breeding and husbandry, transgenic animals, staff qualifications, animal welfare, imports, exports and transportation.   Regulation and oversight of lab animal use are the responsibility of the National Ministry of Science and Technology, provincial departments of science and technology, and institutional animal care and use committees.

Introduction

Sustainable development has caught the imagination and action all over the world for more than a decade and sustainable agriculture is necessary to attain the goal of sustainable development. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sustainable agriculture “is the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources”. All definitions of sustainable agriculture lay great emphasis on maintaining an agriculture growth rate, which can meet the demand for food of all living things without draining the basic resources.

Almost two third of India’s population does not have access to formal financial services. The women self help movement emerged as an important strategy for achieving financial inclusion, contributing to inclusive growth and generating social capital in order to address larger issues like poverty eradication and women empowerment. Self Help Group (S.H.G.) are proving to be the most effective instruments for financial inclusion. The experiments started some thirty years ago with N.G.O.s Piloting S.H.G. promotion, which has evolved into a national movement with the proactive role of the state governments- gaining recognition from all the major stakeholders. S.H.G.s are also helping to optimize the utilization of the India’s vast formal financial institutional structure of 160,000 institutions in the rural areas through linkages with banks and acting as business correspondents for the banks.

Origin and Concept of SHGS
    
The origin of SHGs is from the brainchild of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, which was founded by Mohammed Yunus.  SHGs were started and formed in 1975.  In India NABARD is initiated in 1986-87.  But the real effort was taken after 1991-92 from the linkage of SHGs with the banks.  A SHG is a small economically homogeneous affinity group of the rural poor voluntarily coming together to save small amount regularly, which are deposited in a common fund to meet members emergency needs and to provide collateral free loans decided by the group (Jha 2000).  They have been recognized as useful tool to help the poor and as an alternative mechanism to meet the urgent credit needs of poor through thrift (Rao 2002) SHG is a media for the development of saving habit among the women (Rajamohan 2003).  SHGs enhance the equality of status of women as participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic, social and cultural spheres of life.  (Jain 2003).

Agriculture encounters a complex dynamic system of natural conditions. The meteorological factors among these natural conditions play a pivotal role so far as agriculture is concerned. The rate of growth and development of a bio-system is largely depending upon its ambient temperature and moisture. The plant productivity per unit area, total production, quality of the produce, operational efficiency as well as econometrics are solely governed by the meteorological parameters. Therefore, their through understanding including the computation and the measurement techniques is absolutely essential. It is no less important to have sufficient workable information on weather phenomena as well as climatic resources to determine realizable potential and an appropriate solution for a number of problems faced in agriculture.

Since meteorology and climatology are primarily observational sciences, adequate care has to be taken for getting most representative and accurate observations of weather parameters for their efficient application. This depends on site of observatory, maintenance of observatory, accuracy of instruments, timely measurements of weather parameters, knowledge and responsibility of the observer.

Monitoring of weather conditions, in a country like India, which is climatologically so diverse because of its unique geographical situation is a challenging task. It is done through a large network of observatories of different types. India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, is entrusted with the collection and keeping the record of weather data collected from different stations and also to train the man power in this specialized area. Weather stations installed in different parts of the country are of different types.

Rainfall is precipitation (falling of any type of condensed moisture to the ground) in the form of liquid drops larger than 0.5 mm in diameter falling on the earth surface. Ordinary rain drop size varies from 0.5-4.0 mm in diameter. Rainfall is measured in term of depth of rain water (millimeters) on a solid surface provided that rain water is neither allowed to percolate nor runoff or loss in any form.

Snow is precipitation of solid water, mainly in the form of branched hexagonal crystals or stars. It is “precipitation of white opaque grains of ice”. Measurement of snow cover is related to runoff estimation and also important for hilly agriculture.

4.1. Snowfall

It is the amount of fresh snow deposited over a specified period (generally 24 hours). The measurements relate to depth and water content of the snowfall.

Temperature influences most plant processes, including photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration, germination, flowering, adaptation and distribution of crops. As temperature increases (up to a point), photosynthesis, transpiration, and respiration increase. When combined with day-length, temperature also affects the change from vegetative (leafy) to reproductive (flowering) growth. Depending on the situation and the specific plant, the effect of temperature can either speed up or slow down this transition.

Temperature is the measure of mean kinetic energy per molecule of the molecules in an object, while the heat is the measure of total kinetic energy of all the molecules of that object. A large object may  have a much lower temperature than a small object and may still have greater heat content by virtue of larger number of molecules in it. Thus heat and temperature are not the same.

The surface of the earth gets heated up during the day and gets cooled during the night causing diurnal changes in the top layers of the soil. Soil temperature is an important part of micro-environment, where plant roots grow and capture the water and nutrients and thus, it affects the plant growth and yield. During crop germination also soil temperatures play vital role. Since the heat regimes of these layers are governed by the soil temperature, the measurement of soil temperature becomes extremely important.

It is the actual minimum temperature experienced by the plants near ground surface. The grass minimum temperature is lower than the air temperature at 4 ft level. It is the temperature recorded in open air ground on short turf, with the bulb of the thermometer just in contact with the tips of the blades of grass. It is also described as the temperature at 5.0 cm (2 inches) above ground. It is used during October to March period only when frost occurrence is expected. The readings of the grass minimum thermometer indicate the possibility of ground frosts, which is important information for farmers, gardeners and growers.

The presence of moisture in atmosphere is termed as humidity and plays an important role in formation of weather system and plant as well as insect-pest growth and development. An abundance of moisture results in a rich natural flora and makes possible a wide choice of crops. Deficiency of moisture, on the other hand, permits only narrow range of crops. Humidity also affects the water requirement and the rate of transpiration. Reduction in transpiration reduces the translocation of food material and uptake of nutrients. High humidity with high temperature favours the outbreak of pest and disease. Moisture stress condition reduces the cell size and shape and ultimately plant growth and yield is reduced. High soil moisture and humidity condition cause failure in establishing stand of legumes and pulses. Excess of soil moisture in earlier growing season may result in more vegetative growth and delayed flowering.

Wind influences the plant life both physiologically and mechanically. Wind affects plant directly by increasing the transpiration and intake of CO₂. Thus raising the supply of CO₂ to the plants and thereby increase in photosynthesis. However, the increase in photosynthesis is again upto a certain wind speed beyond which its rate become constant. The warm and dry winds increase evaporative loss and cause moisture stress. Lodging is one of severe injury caused by strong winds which causes great yield loss depending upon the stage of crop. This injury is common in paddy, maize, wheat, sorghum and sugarcane. Strong winds damage fruit trees extensively by breaking leaves and twigs and causing fruit drops.

Sunshine means incoming solar radiation, which consists of a bundle of rays of different wavelengths. At the top of the atmosphere, the amount of radiant energy received is found to be constant (1.94 cal/cm2/min). The receipt of the radiant energy, which is received on the earth and on crop surface, is influence by the cloudy and sunny or clear sky conditions. The brightness hours of the sunshine are an important parameter, which not only influence microclimate of a place but also the photosynthesis of the crop. The radiant energy of intensity of 0.17 cal/cm²/min or 120 W/m² and above is known to specify the bright sunshine.

Cloud is a visible aggregate of minute water droplets and/or ice particles, or both in the air usually above the general ground level. Clouds are the most important form of suspended water droplets caused by condensation. There is no precipitation without clouds.

11.1. Measuring Instrument

The cloudy hours are measured with the help of eye or sensory parts of the body. No particular instrument is required for cloud amount or cloud cover measurement in the sky.

The solar energy is the main source of energy for the processes occurring at the earth surface and in its atmosphere. Crop production, is in fact an exploitation of solar radiation and plants are the converters of solar energy into a useful form of energy which is biomass and sustain life providing food, fodder, fiber, fuel, fruits etc. Sun energy fulfills two essential needs of the plants i.e.  (i) light for photosynthesis including many other photo processes and functions of the plants, (ii) thermal conditions required for the normal physiological functions of the plant. Thus, the crop production and agriculture is basically dependent on quality and quantity of radiation.

The change of state of water form solid or liquid to gaseous form is known as evaporation. It may be defined as the water loss in vapour form from a soil/water surface. The energy used in this process is called as latent heat. The energy of 540 cal/g of water is used in this process. This process plays a major role in the redistribution of thermal energy between the earth and the atmosphere. Water vapour diffuses into the atmosphere from the different natural surfaces like ocean, river, lake, pond, soil and plant etc. It is difficult to measure the evaporation from the natural surfaces. To measure the evaporation from open water surface is easy and is normally in practice. The rate of evaporation is dependent on the size of the measuring surface (Pan) at constant wind speed below saturation point. Therefore a measured surface (Pan) is designed to measure the evaporation.

Dew acts as a source of moisture for the crop plants. It causes reduction in transpiration rate and saving of soil moisture reserves. Dew fall helps in insect-pest and diseases spread in crop plants.

14.1 Dew and Conditions for Dewfall

The radiational cooling during night causes the moisture to saturate and further cooling results into condensation and depositing this moisture in the form of tiny droplets on the grasses, vegetative and other non-conducting surfaces. This deposition form is known as dew. Clear nights, low wind velocity in the order of 1.0 to 3.0 m/s, presence of moderate to high moisture (RH = 75%) and sufficient radiational cooling are the four necessary and conductive conditions for the occurrence of dew.

Pressure of air at a given place is the force exerted against a surface by continuous collision of gas molecules. Pressure may be defined as the force per unit surface area.

Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is the radiation in the 400-700 nm wave band. For plants, 400-700 nm wave band of the light spectrum is very useful because of photosynthesis activity in this band. A simple integral relationship exists between the number of molecules changed photo-chemically and the photons absorbed within the requisite wave bands regardless of photon energy. Net photosynthesis rates are found to be almost linearly proportional to the radiation intercepted, which can be measured by line quantum sensor.

The most established method for detecting crop water stress remotely is through the measurement of a crop’s surface temperature. The correlation between surface temperature and water stress is based on the assumption that as a crop transpires, the evaporated water cools the leaves below that of air temperature. As the crop becomes water stressed, transpiration will decrease, and thus the leaf temperature will increase. Other factors need to be accounted for in order to get a good measure of actual stress levels, but leaf temperature is one of the most important.