eChapters

Introduction

India is a rich center of plant diversity due to varied climatic conditions as well as soil qualities which provide a better platform for the diverse plant groups. In India around 45000 plant species are spread over the area (Mayers, 1988). These plant species multiply and produces the new plant. The multiplication of plants is termed as propagation and the art of propagation is as old as civilization of human being. The history of civilization began with the propagation and growing of plants. Plant propagation was in practice in pre-historic period. However, the propagation process has got commercial popularity only recently. The success in plant propagation depends on a thorough knowledge of the growth of plants, choice of suitable method and technical skill. In nature, plants multiply naturally to perpetuate themselves. Now-a-days, propagation practices have been totally modernized and became advanced from field to in vitro. Variation in plant propagation can be observed in the nature like some plants are producing many seeds for future generation with their unique type of dispersal mechanism. Among a large

1.    A lipid is

(a) Insoluble in water but soluble in nonpolar solvents

(b) Insoluble in both water and nonpolar solvents

(b) Soluble in water but insoluble in nonpolar solvents

(d) None of the above

2.    Fats are

(a) Esters of fatty acid with glycerol

(b) Esters of fatty acid with long chain monohydroxy alcohols

(c) Both (a) and (b)

(d) Esters of fatty acid with alcohols

History of Social Networking Services

The notion that individual computers linked electronically could form the basis of computer mediated social interaction and networking was suggested early on. There were many early efforts to support social networks via computer-mediated communication, including Usenet, ARPANET, LISTSERV, bulletin board services (BBS) etc.

Early social networking websites included Classmates.com(1995), focusing on ties with former school mates, and SixDegrees.com(1997), focusing on indirect ties. User profiles could be created, messages sent to users held on a “friends list” and other members could be sought out who had similar interests to yours in their profiles. Whilst these features had existed in some form before SixDegrees.com came about, this would be the first time these functions were available in one package. Despite these new developments (that would later catch on and become immensely popular), the website simply wasn’t profitable and eventually shut down. It was even described by the website’s owner as “simply ahead of its time.” Two different models of social networking that came about in 1999 were trust-based, developed by Epinions.com, and friendship-based, such as those developed by Jonathan Bishop and used on some regional UK sites between 1999 and 2001. Innovations included not only showing who is “friends” with whom, but giving users more control over content and connectivity.

Introduction

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food- the age-old quote by Hippocrates, is certainly the tenet of today. Microbial cultures have been used for millenniums in food and alcoholic fermentations and in the past century have undergone scientific scrutiny for their ability to prevent and cure a variety of diseases. Later it became popular in improving human and farm animal nutritive values and recently in aquaculture also. The growing interest in the understanding the role of food in human health has moved from its primary role as a source of energy to the subtle action of biologically active food components on human health. Henceforth functional foods or nutraceuticals are of great demand in present time. The growing scientific evidence suggests that the food supplements containing beneficial bacteria can provide an array of benefits to the host. Now a day’s probiotic fermented foods are in great demand due to the awareness of beneficial aspects of probiotics among people. Several industries focused on the improvement of conventional fermented foods scientifically in order to fetch good market for their products. Particularly, animal feed companies and researchers have been looking for alternative products and strategies that can help to maintain animal gut health in order to prevent or reduce the prevalence of pathogens in the food chain. After understanding the mechanism and beneficial aspects of probiotics in detail at molecular level in earlier chapters, now it is relevant to discuss the applied part of probiotics. In this chapter, commercial importance of probiotics and probiotics derived products at industrial level are emphasized.

Introduction

Remote sensing is the science and art of obtaining information about an object, area or phenomenon through an analysis of the data acquired by a device which is not in contact with the object, area or phenomenon under investigation. The definition of remote sensing is restricted to mean the process of acquiring information about any object without physically contacting it in anyway regardless of whether the observer is immediately adjacent to the object or millions of miles away. It is further required that such sensing may be achieved in the absence of any matter in the intervening space between the object and the observer. Consequently, the information about the object, area or any phenomenon must be available in a form that can be impressed on a carrier vacuum.

Abstract

Hot air circulation is the most common industrial method of drying foods which has its own inherited disadvantages. Microwave drying can be an alternative method for removing moisture from foods and there has been a surge of interest in the application of microwave to process the foods, in past few years. The reason being that there is worldwide energy crisis and the growing acceptance and familiarity with domestic microwave ovens. It is well known that conventional means of heat processing irreversibly alter the flavor, colour, and texture of many foods. From the point of flavor alone, it is desirable to improve our present methods of processing foods. Some improvements have been made in this direction with a number of food products by use of high-temperature short- time processing.

1.    The function of myoglobin is to store in living animal’s muscle.

(a) Oxygen

(b) Nitrogen

(c) CO₂

(d) Oxygen + carbondioxide

2.    Myoglobin is in color when not carrying an oxygen molecule.

(a) Red

(b) Blue

(c) Purple

(d) White

Introduction

Rice straw is produced as a by-product of rice production at harvest. Agricultural Waste Burning (AWB) is a major contributor of air pollution in many countries, particularly in South Asia. Exposure to fine particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (micrometer), also known as PM 2.5, released by AWB can cause premature mortality due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (Brauer et al.,2012). Combine Harvesters used on the spring rice crop leave behind stubble and straw on the field (Sidhu et al., 2007). Farmers burn the rice residue while preparing the field for wheat sowing season that follows. Further, migrant labour from neighbouring states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has decreased (Sirhindi, 2019), and resulted in an increase in the cost of agricultural labour during the rice harvest season (Sharma,2018). Farmers find it both convenient and economical to burn residue to clear and prepare their fields for the next crop. In 2018, over 20 million metric tons of rice residue was generated in Punjab, of which almost 10 million metric tons was subject to open-air burning (MoA, 2019). The time window between rice harvesting and wheat sowing is just 20 to 30 days towards the conclusion of the Kharif season, which is one of the primary reasons of crop waste burning (Balwinder et al., 2016).

The intestines of domesticated animals, which are a byproduct of slaughterhouses, are employed in numerous applications. Intestines that function as food containers are referred to casings. Non-consumable uses encompass catgut, strings for musical instruments and rackets, along with various other specialized applications. Additionally, intestines can be ingested following meticulous cleaning and cooking with spices. Among these applications, sausage casings yield the highest profit. Different nations exhibit distinct preferences for sausages, and these preferences frequently determine the varieties of casings utilized.
In addition to intestines, casings can also be sourced from weasands (oesophagus), urinary bladders, stomachs, and rectums. Although artificial casings made from plastic materials and hydro-cellulose are prevalent in Western nations, natural animal casings continue to be in high demand due to their distinctive properties. Natural casings, which are obtained from the intestines or other parts of animals such as sheep, pigs, or cows, undergo processing to become edible and are utilized in the production of sausages and other processed meats. They are esteemed for their elasticity, enabling them to conform to the shape of the sausage filling, and they play a crucial role in enhancing the flavour and texture of the final product. Natural casings, are frequently favored for traditional or artisanal sausages because of their authentic origin and their capacity to improve the taste and visual appeal of the sausages.

Nano-material possess unique properties such as dimension, shape, specific surface area, surface mass ratio etc., that are highly influenced by the mechanical and physical properties. It is pertinent to understand the basic physical properties of nano-materials in order to apply them in a wide array of functions. In this context, this chapter is devoted to provide basic information on physical, mechanical and photo-luminescence properties of nano-materials.

Major cucurbits grown in India are cucumber, watermelon, muskmelon, ash gourd, pumpkin and squashes, snake gourd, ridge gourd, smooth gourd, bottle gourd, round gourd, bitter gourd, pointed gourd, ivy gourd,pointed gourd and oriental pickling melon. After independence,a lot of breeding work were done in these crops at many research institutes in the country which  resulted in  release of several high yielding/disease resistant varieties/hybrids.

Being warm season crops, cucurbits are tropical in origin, mostly in Africa, Tropical America and Asia. Flowering in cucurbits normally start in 40 to 45 days after sowing depending on weather conditions. Sequence of flowering follows a set pattern, namely the first 4 to 6 flowering nodes would bear staminate flowers and later pistillate flowers appear. Many sex forms are seen in cucurbits viz., monoecious, dioecious, gynoecious,trimonoecious, gynomonoecious and andromonoecious. Sex modification is also possible in cucurbits by exogenous application of plant growth regulators. GA₃ and AgNO₃ are used for inducing male flowers in gynoecious lines. Conversely,ethrel and TIBA  are used to promote greater number of female flowers. This kind of sex modification is more useful and practicable in  cucumber and bottle gourd where continuous and simultaneous flowering, fruit set and fruit picking take place.

Nematodes are the most numerous metazoa on earth. They are either free living or parasites of plants and animals. Although currently only about 4100 species of plant parasitic nematodes have been described (i.e. 15 % of the total number of nematode species known), their impact on humans by inflicting heavy losses in agriculture is substantial. Most of the developing countries including India lie in tropical or sub tropical regions where climate is suitable for activity and multiplication of nematodes almost throughout the year. Sandy and warm soils such as found in India other developing countries in the arid zone are very favorable for nematode infection, especially in irrigated areas which are used for crop production continuously. The percentage of crop losses caused by plant pathogens, insect pests and weeds world wide has been estimated to 42% according for $500 billion worth of damage. The estimated overall annual yield loss of world’s major crops due to damage by plant parasitic nematodes has been reported to the extent of 12.3% (Sasser & Freckman, 1987). Estimated losses due to nematodes attack on different cultivated crops all over the world by FAO are around 400 million dollars. Annual crop losses in India is Rs. 242.1 billion. A large number of plant parasitic nematodes have been found associated with pulse crops in allover India but pathogenicity has not been proved for all. Plant parasitic nematodes are one of the most unwanted organisms in agricultural soils. They parasitize the roots of our carefully nurtured crops, reduce their ability to produce yields, make them weak and perhaps vulnerable to many pests and diseases. They reduce the crop yields that may equal those associated with more severe and easily identifiable plant diseases and we do not even realize their presence. Damage to crops by nematodes often goes unnoticed or attributed to other causes such as lack of fertility, deficient soil moisture. Sandy and warm soils such as found in India other developing countries in the arid zone are very favourable for nematode infection, especially in irrigated areas which are used for crop production continuously (Taylor, 1967).

Abstract

Plant research often involves growing new plants in a controlled environment. These may be plants that we have genetically altered in some way or may be plants of which we need many copies all exactly alike. These things can be accomplished through tissue culture of small tissue pieces from the plant of interest. The latest list of ISO recognizes 109 spices, but only a few are important commercially such as black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, large cardamom, cumin, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, garlic, saffron and celery. They are extensively used in flavouring food and confectionery, perfumery and soaps and also as colouring materials. Many of these groups of crops have medicinal properties and are used in many Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. Inspite of the rich diversity and importance, the productivity of spices is low in India. Spices are an important group of economic plants with large genetic diversity in the Indian subcontinent and need to be conserved through in- vitro methods. Conservation of the germplasm using traditional method of field maintenance is problematic, normally labour intensive and also face risk of germplasm loss due to pest/pathogen attack or natural disasters. To minimize the problems of their conservation and increasing interest has been shown to use plant tissue culture. In vitro conservation of germplasm has been reported in various crop species including the spices black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, large cardamom.

In India, there are two accreditation systems for authorizing Certification and Inspection agencies for organic certification. National Programme on organic Production (NPOP) promoted by Ministry of Commerce is the core programme which governs and defines the standards and implementing procedures. National Accreditation Body (NAB) is the apex decision making body. Certification and Inspection agencies accredited by NAB are authorized to undertake certification process. The NPOP notified under FTDR act and controlled by Agricultural Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) looks after the requirement of export while NPOP notified under APGMC act and controlled by Agriculture Marketing Advisor, Directorate of Marketing and Inspection looks after domestic certification. Currently 20 certification agencies have been authorized to undertake certification process.

National Programme on Organic Production

National Program on Organic Production (NPOP) was launched during 2001 under the Foreign Trade & Development Act (FTDR Act). The document provides information on standards for organic production, systems criteria, and procedures for accreditation of Inspection and Certification bodies, the national organic logo and the regulations governing its use.

Introduction

The word cooperation is of Latin origin and it means to work together (Filley, 1929).Cooperatives are founded on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Based on the founding principles of co-operatives, members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others (Canadian Business Service Centre, 2004). A fishery co-operative society can be defined as “An autonomous association of people united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled fishery enterprise or fishery activities.”

Attitude implies that the individual is no longer neutral toward the referent psychological objects. The person would be positively inclined or negatively disposed in some degree towards the referents (Campbell, 1963; Allport, 1966; Newcomb, 1966; Zanden, 1977; Burr, 2000). The response in this connection is a lasting one, as long as the attitude in question is operative. Attitude refers to a psychological individual’s stands about objects, issues, persons, groups, or Institutions. The definition of attitude proposed by Triandis (1971) suggests that attitude has three components: (a) a cognitive component (the idea), (b) an affective component (the emotions), and (c) a behavioural component (the action).

Soil erosion refers to detachment and transport of soil and soil particles from one place to other by the action of water, wind or gravity. Soil erosion consists of (i) detachment of soil particles from surface (ii) their transport from one place to other and (iii) deposition in another place.

Soil erosion are of two types: Natural erosion and accelerated erosion. The natural or geological erosion is steady, nondestructive and slow process of nature. On the contrary the accelerated erosion caused due to human activities like cutting of forest, intensive cropping, construction of roads and building is very rapid and destructive. Surface one inch of soil which is formed in thousand years can be lost within one year due to accelerated erosion.

In India, out of total 175 million hectares of degraded land, soil erosion due to water and wind accounts for 150 million hectare. Soil erosion due to shifting cultivation, salinity, alkalinity, water logging and shifting of water courses account for 25 million hectare.

Average soil loss from various land surfaces in India has been estimated to be 5334 million tonnes per year out of which 29 percent is permanently lost to sea, 10 percent is deposited in reservoirs and 61 percent is transported from one place to other. The plant nutrients lost through 5334 million tonnes of eroded soils was estimated to be 8.4 million tonnes which includes 2.5 million tonnes of N, 3.3 million tonnes of P and 2.6 million tonnes of K.

Siltation of reservoirs through water erosion is a major concern in India. This accelerated silting has considerably reduced the estimated life span of major reservoirs. The rate of siltation depends on the catchment area, soil erodability, topography and rainfall pattern. Larger the catchment area, smaller is the siltation load in the reservoirs because, the coarse fraction of eroded particles may be settle down in the stream valley before the water enters into the reservoir.

Introduction The onion (Allium cepa) is one of the world's oldest cultivated crops, with a history dating back over 5,000 years (Gorrepati et al., 2014). At present, India is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of onions. At the time, India ranked second in onion production with a yearly production of around 23262 TMT and an average yield of 18.10 MT/ha (Prajapati and Saini, 2019; Horticulture Statistics at a Glance, 2018; Tripathi and Lawande, 2016). Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Telangana are the major onion producing states in India. Maharashtra alone covers 55-60% of countries total production. Solapur, Satara, Dhule, Jalgoan, Osmanabad, Beed, Latur, Aurangabad are the major onion producing districts in Maharashtra (Tripathi et al., 2005). Unfortunately, India witnessed around 40-50% post-harvest losses of onions every year (Prajapati and Saini, 2019).

Introduction

Soil organic matter is an indispensible component of soil health management. It plays an important role in improving soil physical, chemical and biological environment. Soil health refers to the capacity of the soil in terms of physical, chemical and biological properties for maintaining ecosystem services. With respect to agricultural lands, soil health implies the capability of the soil towards improving crop growth and yield, while also supporting environmental sustainability. Some important determining properties of soil health maintenance are soil reaction, salinity or alkalinity, soil organic matter, soil texture, soil structure/aggregation, water holding capacity, porosity, internal drainage, and nutrient retention capacity. Simultaneously, the key properties maneuvering soil health are soil aeration, internal drainage, nutrient cycling, susceptibility to erosion etc. Except some of the basic properties (soil texture) and processes (soil erosion), most of the determinant properties and processes are maneuvered by the presence of soil organic matter. A healthy soil must have strong resistance to degradation processes and able to recover following a perturbation because of inherent resilience (Magdoff 2001).

Laying and broiler breeding are the backbone of the poultry industry. Fertility and hatchability are the two most important reproductive traits of breeder birds that highly influence the supply of quality day-old commercial chicks and growth of poultry industry. Fertility and hatchability are parameters of economic viability (King’Ori, 2011; Malik et al., 2015) and interrelated heritable traits that vary among breeds, variety and individuals in a breed or variety. Fertility refers to the average percentage of eggs that were fertilized and hatchability refers to the proportion of chicks hatched from the total number of eggs set for incubation (hatchability on the basis of total egg set), and based on the total number of fertile eggs (hatchability on the basis of fertile eggs set) (Wolc et al., 2019).

Introduction

Drought is an evolutionary process often triggered by precipitation deficiencies and may result in enormous economic losses. Effective early drought warnings and predictions may be beneficial for the farmers. To determine drought and its severity level, meteorological drought indices such as the standardized precipitation index, effective drought index etc. are utilized. Drought events can be foreknown using prediction models and by predicting these indices. Many studies on prediction have primarily focused on statistical approaches such as Holt-Winters, auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), etc. These statistical techniques are insufficient for providing long-term predictions. However, with improvements in machine learning techniques, there seems to be a mechanism to forecast drought in the long run with high accuracy. Frequently used machine learning algorithms in drought forecasting are artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine, etc. Machine learning techniques have a powerful and versatile data-driven algorithm for capturing and representing complex input and output relationships.