eChapters

True/False

Q.1.    The purpose of most medical research is to identify the causes of disease and search out the ways to prevent or cure them.
Q.2.    Now a day, epidemiology has become a basic science for public health
Q.3.    The studies of diagnostics therapeutic and prognostic procedures have successfully incorporated into growing stream of “Clinical Epidemiology”.

Abstract
 
Much attention has been paid to mycorrhza as a tool for improving the growth and health of plants.  The use of mycorrhiza in agricultureal, horticultural and forestry has been described. The significance of AM fungi in sustainable agriculture has been a subject of growing interest for the past several decades. In sustainable agriculture it is imperative to maximize benefits with low input costs. The fact remains that stable and lower human population is an integral component of sustainable agriculture and more so in an Indian context. Therefore, it is imperative to collect further information on the different aspects of AM fungal symbiosis as discussed in this article so as to utilize this plant microbe symbiotic system for the increased production and productivity in a sustainable manner. This may become possible when the integrated approach is made to study AM fungi right from the isolation of AM fungal spores to the high quality inoculum production and its application in the field. It is also imperative to stimulate new mutualism between mycorrhizal scientists and ecologists. It this regard, recent advancement made in the molecular techniques should be encouraged in order to obtain more authentic results. Adequate field testing of mycorrhizal inoculation and commercial exploitation of the potential benefits of mycorrhiza still rests on the development of suitable technology for mycorrhizal inoculum preparation.

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.

In its original concept, vaccination aims to mimic the development of naturally acquired immunity by inoculation of nonpathogenic but still immunogenic components of the pathogen in question, or closely related organisms. The term “vaccine” (from the Latin term “vacca,” meaning cow) was first coined by Edward Jenner to describe the inoculation of humans with the cowpox virus to confer protection against the related human smallpox virus and illustrates the close relationship between human and animal infectious disease sciences. The famous proverb saying ‘Prevention is better than cure’ implies perfectly to the vaccines. Vaccines have proven to be boon for animals which can be regard a potential weapons against infectious diseases caused mainly by bacteria and viruses. The major aims of veterinary vaccines are to improve the health and welfare of companion animals, increase production of livestock in a cost-effective manner, and prevent animal-to-human transmission from both domestic animals and wildlife. Vaccines have long been used to combat infectious disease; however the last decade has witnessed a revolution in the approach to vaccine design and development. Apart from improving animal health and productivity, veterinary vaccines have a significant impact on public health through reductions in the use of veterinary pharmaceuticals and hormones and their residues in the human food chain.

Brucellosis, one of the most ancient diseases, continues to be a problem for humans and animals throughout the world causing enormous economic losses and significant human morbidity in endemic areas. The bacterial pathogen is classified by the CDC as a category B pathogen that has the potential for development as a bioweapon. It is one of the important zoonotic disease and considered as the most common laboratory acquired pathogen with >5 lakh human cases reported annually around the world. Brucellosis is a chronic infection which can result in infertility, delayed heat, interrupted lactation, loss of calves, wool, meat and milk production in animals and undulant fever in humans. Although in most of the counties, brucellosis is a nationally notifiable disease and reportable to the local health authority, it is underreported and official numbers constitute only a fraction of true incidence of the disease. Although the true incidence of human brucellosis is unknown, the estimated burden of the disease varies widely from <0.03 to >160 per 1 lakh population. Although only 17 countries in the world are free from the disease, it has been reported in many countries including India. Bovine brucellosis is endemic in all the states in India and appears to be on the increase in recent time, perhaps due to increased trade and rapid movement of livestock. The preponderance of natural bull service in rural India is perhaps yet another important factor in the maintenance and spread of infection. The Government of India has made it mandatory to regularly screen all the breeding bulls from artificial insemination centres, for brucellosis and to use brucellosis free bulls for semen production.

Etiology: Brucella sp. are facultative intracellular Gram - ve coccobacilli, nonspore forming and non-capsulated. It infects macrophages with principal involvement of liver, spleen and bone marrow. Nine Brucella species are currently recognized, seven of them that affect terrestrial animals are: B. abortus, B. melitensis, B. suis, B. ovis, B. canis, B. neotomae and B. microti and two that affect marine mammals are B. ceti and B. pinnipedialis. The first three species are called classical Brucella and within these species seven biovars are recognized for B. abortus, three for B. melitensis and five for B. suis. The remaining species have not been differentiated into biovars.

Volumetry / Titrimetry

Process of determining the volume of solution of known concentration required to complete reaction with a solution of unknown concentration (test solution) by titration.

3.1. Introduction

Food preservation can be defined as the science which deals with the process of prevention of decay or spoilage of food thus allowing it to be stored in a safe condition for future use. Scientifically, preservation may be defined as a science which deals with the process for prevention of decay. All foods gradually undergo deterioration or spoilage from the time they are harvested or manufactured. Some commodities spoil rapidly, while others can keep for longer but limited periods. Spoilage in the food products may be caused due to some physical, chemical and microbial changes during storage. The preservation of these products can be resulted by controlling following physical, chemical and microbial changes.

Agriculture has long served as the backbone of human civilization, enabling societies to grow and prosper. For generations, farmers have relied on experience, traditional practices, and historical weather data to inform decisions about crop cultivation and livestock management. Yet these conventional methods often left operations vulnerable to unpredictable environmental conditions. Today, the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming agriculture by shifting the approach from reactive management to proactive, data-driven decision making. Modern IoT systems deploy a network of interconnected sensors that continuously capture critical environmental parameters such as soil moisture, temperature, humidity, light intensity, and nutrient levels. These sensors provide granular, real-time data that is transmitted to centralized analytics platforms where it can be processed and visualized. The resulting insights empower farmers, aquaculturists, and animal husbandry professionals to optimize every aspect of their operations — enhancing yields, reducing waste, and increasing sustainability. This chapter explores the deployment and impact of IoT in agricultural and allied systems. It provides detailed technical discussions on sensor networks, communication protocols, and power management; illustrates how real-time data integration with advanced analytics transforms decision making; and presents in-depth case studies from initiatives such as John Deere’s precision agriculture systems, Microsoft FarmBeats, and regional projects like SmartAgriHubs. Moreover, the chapter delves into the formidable challenges of IoT deployment, including those faced by underdeveloped regions—and concludes with a look at emerging trends and a synthesis of the future vision for agriculture.
6.1 The Role of IoT in Modern Agriculture
6.1.1 Revolutionizing Data Collection
The most significant impact of IoT in agriculture is its transformation of data collection. Traditional methods relied on periodic field observations, manual sampling, and regional weather reports that provided only a snapshot of environmental conditions. In contrast, IoT devices continuously monitor the microclimate across a farm. With sensors distributed throughout fields, livestock facilities, and aquaculture systems, farmers can now capture real-time data on temperature, humidity, soil moisture, light intensity, and more (Fig.6.1).

To many Bio Fertilizer is still an unclear term. Often they are identified as urban and rural organic wastes, plant extracts, organic components etc. However, Bio Fertilizer is mostly commonly referred to the use of soil micro organisms to increase the uptake and availability of plant nutrients. Bio Fertilizer have gained a good deal of momentum and the industry after a slow start is now gaining more and more importance globally. The major reasons for this are that they:
1. Improves the soil structure.
2. Add nutrients to the soil / make the nutrients available to the crop
3. Secret certain growth promoting substances
4. Under certain conditions exhibit antifungal activities and there by protect the plants from pathogenic fungus
5. Enhances seed germination
6. Increase the soil fertility
7. Increase the agricultural productivity
8. The nitrogen fixed or phosphate solubilized will be beneficial to the
subsequent crops also.
The major, popularly used and commercially produced Bio Fertilizers are Nitrogen fixing bacterial fertilizers (Azotobacter Culture, Azospirillum Culture, Rhizobium Culture) and Phosphate solubilizing bacterial fertilizers (Pseudomonas Culture). However, currently their applications for other useful elements like Potash, Sulphur, Zincetc are also increasing.

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an account on the origin of the concepts of IP, gradual development and their culmination at the TRIPS.

Introduction

Intellectual property rights form the most prominent and ever-expanding category of rights in the 21^st Century. It differs from other proprietary rights in many respects and prevails in most articles of law, which influence our daily life. The economic significance of intellectual property rights has made it a subject of global political interest. In the broader sense, the term “intellectual property rights” connotes different categories of rights such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, designs, plant varieties, semiconductors, geographical indications, trade secrets and data exclusivity with varying scope

13.1 Introduction

Beet root or garden beet or table beet is an important home and market garden crop of India grown during winter season for its fleshy enlarged roots. It can be eaten raw as salad, and cooked with other vegetables. Beet root is rich in minerals and vitamin C. The garden beet, sugar beet, swiss chard, mangel and palak, all belong to the same genus and species Beta vulgaris. Beet root (Chukandar) is not so popular vegetable crop in India. Its root contains high percentage of sugar.

3.1. Maturity

• During process of maturation, fruit receives regular supply of food material from plant.

• When mature, abscission or corky layer forms at stern end stops inflow.

• Afterwards, fruit depends on own reserves, carbohydrates dehydrated and sugars accumulate until sugar acid ratio form.

• In addition, typical flavour and characteristic colour also develop.

• Stage of maturity at the time of picking influence storage life and quality of fruit

• Fruits harvested over mature or full ripe are easily susceptible to microbial and physiological spoilage and storage life reduction.

• Necessary to pick up fruits or vegetables at correct stage of maturity to facilitate proper ripening, distant transportation and maximum storage life.

• Principles of harvest maturity

? Harvested commodity should have its peak acceptable quality when it reaches the consumer.

? Produce should develop an acceptable flavour or appearance.

? Produce should have optimum size and shape required by the market.

Key Points

• Dogs can be fed a wide variety of chocolate and cocoa-based goods, particularly during holiday seasons, such as candy, cakes, cookies, brownies, and chocolate chips.

• Dogs that eat chocolate usually become very sick, but they also seldom die from it.

Introduction

Caffeine and theobromine are found in chocolate. Dogs' metabolisms of caffeine and theobromine differ from humans'. Because they contain more theobromine and caffeine, darker, bitter chocolates are considered to be more dangerous.

When a dog consumes too much chocolate goods, it can lead to major health problems like seizures, heart failure, and muscular tremors. In extreme situations, the dog may even pass away from cardiac or respiratory failure. Due to the fat and sugar content, it induces vomiting and diarrhoea even in non-toxic doses. Numerous substances found in chocolate are hazardous to animals. Although chocolate poisoning can affect a wide variety of animal species, including dogs, cats, horses, and rodents, it most frequently affects dogs. Theobromine and caffeine are the main harmful ingredients in chocolate. The amount of caffeine and theobromine in chocolate varies with kind. Dogs' metabolism of theobromine and caffeine differs from that of humans. Dogs are more sensitive because of this. Dogs who consume chocolate may become seriously unwell, even though it rarely results in death. When a dog eats too many chocolate-containing foods, such as cakes, cookies, brownies, candies, and chocolate chips, it might become poisoned.

At an Agri Summit, I had an in-enviable task to chair a session on “Sustainable Future”, with two well-known but extremely opposite personalities. On my left was a globally well-known environment activist talking about all the evils of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. On my right was the President of Pesticide Association with equally strong views about how the chemical pesticides have greatly helped in feeding the hungry world. My task was further made difficult by a large lobby of green activists in the audience and also a number of seasoned industrialists with opposite views. Such a scenario is becoming increasingly common.
In January 2009, the European Council Directive 91-414 was passed banning a total of more than 40% chemical pesticides (David Frabotta, FCI – March, 2009). Earlier in 1993, there were 740 active ingredients available in European markets. By August 2008, however, 394 of these were no longer allowed and 113 more were still under review. It was predicted that in next 5 – 10 years, 85% of these could disappear from European markets. The Swedish chemical agency shortlisted nearly 21 chemical under criteria of ‘Endocrine’ ( The Endocrine criteria are defined as any substances that trigger class – 3 carcinogenic effect and class - 3 reproductive effect). These are new herbicides like :loxynil, Gluctosinate, etc. The two major class of fungicides are described as Triazoles and Dithiocarbonate. Triazoles are major weapon against septoria – a major fungal diseases in cereals.
BEYOND GREEN REVOLUTION
In spite of increase in the use of agrochemicals, the agricultural production and productivity has remained stagnant beyond 1990 due to poor soil conditions

The world’s population is increasing exponentially. Projected totals for the year 2050 vary but it is acknowledged that access to sufficient quality and quantity of food, water and living space and other natural resources will be limiting factors for the human population. The environmental impact of this huge population and its everyday activities will be significant and possibly irreversible. There is urgency therefore, in addressing issues of sustainable food production, water and land use for the coming decades. Endemic hunger (due to carbohydrate-protein malnutrition), hidden hunger (induced by deficiencies of vitamins and minerals) and transient hunger (caused by natural calamities such as drought, flood, earthquake, tsunami etc.) can be overcome only by integrated strategy with sustainable and equitable use of agricultural biodiversity.

Abstract

Eight species including 1 variety, 2 macro and 6 micro-lichens from Garhwal Himalaya, c 1500-2700 m, have been found to glow and emit fluorescent light, when exposed to long wave-length (254 nm) ultra-violet radiataions. Taxonomy and chemistry of all these species have been critically evaluated. The recorded taxa belong to families Physciaceae (4 species); Pertusariaceae, Rhizocarpaceae (1 species each) and Lichen imperfecti (2 species). The reported taxa are: Buellia hemispherica Singh and Awasthi, B. sub-glaziouana Singh and Awasthi; Pertusaria pertusa (Weig.) Tuck., Pyxine berteriana (Fee) Imsh. var. himalayensis Awasthi; P. cocoes (Swartz) Nyl., Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC.; Lepraria taxonomic species I and II.

Introduction

ICT is an acronym for Information and Communication Technology.  The information refers to accessibility of digital data in an easy way to retrieve relevant facts. The communication refers to the medium or the way to transmit the information from one place to another place or one media to another media. The advancement in these areas refers to technology. The collectively ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers, digital television, email, robots.

Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). The change lasts for an extended period of time i.e., decades to millions of years has also been considered as climate change. The causing factors of climate change are biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. The affecting factors seems to be irreversible, it has become the today’s necessity to develop improved next generation technologies which processes the current and future shifts in the climate system. In particular, the Agriculture will be most affected domain due to climate over the next few decades (Brown and Funk, 2008). The development of crop modeling tools pointed out that climate change is likely to decrease agricultural production.

Introduction

India agriculture is now at turning point as we have travelled a long way after the advent of green revolution. Over the past four to five decades our strategies, policies and actions were guided by goals of ‘self-sufficiency’ in foodgrains production via green revolution. Indian agriculture has been successful in achieving increased food grains production albeit at a low level of satisfaction. While the mission of increasing foodgrains production stands somehow achieved, these gains were accompanied by widespread problems of resource degradation and high factor productivity, which now pose a serious challenge to the continued ability to meet the demand of an increasing population and lifting our people above the poverty line (Tan et al., 2010). Indian agriculture has reached a point where it must seek new directions – those by way of strategies, policies and actions which must be adopted to move forward addressing sustainable intensifications. The past strategies to increase food grains production, however, have resulted in massive exploitation of natural resources, contributing to unsustainable growth; there is need to change this approach in the future. This will call for strategies, which are different than the ones we adopted in the ‘green revolution’ era. High levels of fertilizer use and decreasing resource use-efficiency are increasingly contributing to groundwater pollution and increased emissions of green-house gases (GHGs) (Gupta, 2004). High level uses of pesticides in many areas have become a major health hazard. Thus, with continuously deteriorating resources, widespread problem of soil and water contamination and eroding ecological foundation, sustainability of agriculture is becoming highly questionable (Conway and Barbier, 1990). There is need to seriously debate on the strategies required to ensure that agriculture continues to play a critical role in the overall development.

14.1 Introduction

Turnip is quick growing root vegetable. It is a herbaceous biennial for seed production and an annual for use as a vegetable. Both roots and leaves are edible in turnip. Turnip produces napiform types of roots. Turnip is a popular root vegetable of North India grown during winter months. In young stage, it can be cooked but when it is mature, it may become fibrous and hard. It can be eaten raw but, for making palatable pickles, only desi types are the best. European cultivars of turnip are sweeter than Indian ones. The turnip greens are rich in vitamin A and C and contain appreciable amount of vitamin B, and also good source of Ca, P and Fe. 

14.1 Introduction

Drumstick is one of the most popular perennial tree vegetables in the south Indian households and known as miracle tree. This perennial vegetable survives for several years and goes on yielding vegetables without much care and attention, and is planted on the side of the kitchen garden without much interference with tillage operations of other annual crops. The fruits, leaves and flowers are used in culinary preparation. Immature fruits are cut into pieces and used in several culinary dishes. Fruits are rich in Vitamin C, carotene, Phosphorus and minerals like Mg, K, S, Cl etc. Tender leaves and flowers are comparable to that of Colocasia in vitamins and minerals. Drumstick leaves contain high amount of vitamin A (four times more than carrot), vitamin C (seven times more than orange), protein (5-10%), calcium (four times more than milk) and potassium (three times more than banana).The roots of the plant are used for seasoning pickles. Its roots are a good substitute for Horse Radish so called as Horse radish tree. It is highly valued for the distinct and appealing flavour for its tender fruits. They are rich source of protein, minerals and vitamins. Seeds contain an oil called ben or behen oil which has been much used for illumination, soap industry and highly priced for lubricating watches, computers, delicate machinery and so known as Ben oil tree. Seeds contain 38-40% of non-drying oil which is clear and odourless, that never becoming rancid. The oil contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, especially oleic acid up to 67.8%. It is edible and useful in the manufacture of perfumes and hair dressing. The press cake remaining after oil extraction is high in saponin, not edible, but utilized as manure. The oil cake is a water coagulant and used for purifying effluent water. It is used as organic substitute for water purifying chemicals such as aluminium sulphate. Wood yields blue dye and coarse fibre. The plant is used for treatment of rheumatism and as cardiac and circulating system stimulants. It has fragile and cory stem. The trunk is gaining importance as a raw material for paper making. The gum of stem has medicinal properties. The leaves are usually tri-pinnate with elliptic leaflets. Seeds are trigonous with wings on angles. Flowers are produced on current seasons growth on large and erect panicles or monocladial cymes. Flowers are yellowish creamy white and sweet smelling. It is a cross-pollinated crop. Pollinator is carpenter bees, bumble bee, honey bee and flee beetle. Flowering mostly varies from place to place and is greatly influenced by rain, temperature, humidity, wind, soil moisture and soil temperature etc. Peak period of flowering in central parts of India and Kerala is December-January while in southern part it is February-March and July-August with maximum flowering in February-March. Fruits take 60 days for horticultural maturity during rainy season while 30 days in summer.