eChapters

Cattle and buffalo are central to livestock-based livelihoods in India, particularly within natural farming systems where emphasis is placed on maintaining animal health and productivity without the use of synthetic inputs. The feeding strategy in such systems is built around the use of locally available, chemical-free resources that support sustainability and ecological harmony.
The core of the diet for cattle and buffalo in natural farming includes green fodder, dry crop residues, and naturally sourced supplements. Green fodders such as napier grass, guinea grass, berseem, and various legumes provide essential nutrients and roughage. These are complemented by dry fodders like wheat and paddy straw, which are vital for maintaining rumen health through their fiber content.
Natural concentrates such as oilseed cakes (from mustard, groundnut, etc.), along with pulses and mineral sources like crushed limestone and rock salt, are used to supply energy, protein, and essential minerals. In addition, herbs like turmeric, ginger, and ashwagandha are incorporated to enhance digestion and boost immunity naturally.
Seasonal fodder planning is practiced to maintain a continuous supply of feed throughout the year. Farmers often rely on traditional microbial additives such as Jeevamrit—a fermented solution made from cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, and water—which promotes gut health and improves feed efficiency.
Clean and sufficient water access is also a priority, with adult cattle and buffalo requiring around 30 to 50 liters per day depending on body size and milk production.

Backyard poultry rearing plays a vital role in natural farming systems, offering rural households a steady source of eggs, meat, and supplementary income with minimal financial input. This practice emphasizes the use of natural, locally available feed resources, avoiding dependence on commercial feeds or synthetic additives such as antibiotics.
In such systems, the poultry diet largely comprises kitchen leftovers, farmsourced grains, green leafy plants, and insects. Birds are typically allowed to forage freely, enabling them to consume a diverse range of natural items like worms, seeds, and tender greens. This scavenging behavior supports their nutritional needs by naturally providing proteins, minerals, and essential vitamins necessary for optimal growth and egg production.
To enhance their diet, farmers often include cereals such as maize, sorghum, and millet, along with protein-rich additions like pulses and oilseed cakes. Green fodders—particularly nutrient-dense options like moringa and amaranth leaves— are commonly supplied to boost vitamin and mineral intake.
Natural immunity boosters such as turmeric, neem leaves, and garlic are frequently incorporated into the birds’ feed or drinking water. These traditional herbal additives help strengthen resistance to disease, support digestion, and reduce parasitic loads. In some cases, fermented mixtures prepared from ingredients like cow dung and jaggery—resembling Jeevamrit—are provided to support gut health through probiotic action.
Providing clean, fresh water remains fundamental to maintaining poultry health. Feeding regimens are adapted to seasonal conditions, ensuring that nutritional requirements are met during periods of increased egg production or breeding.

Natural-fibre-reinforced green composites represent an important alternative to conventional synthetic-fibre composites. This chapter examines renewable fibres such as hemp, jute, flax, and sisal and their integration with bio-based polymer matrices. The discussion covers material composition, processing methods, environmental considerations, sustainability, applications, advantages, limitations, and current research developments. Natural fibres offer low density, renewability, biodegradability, and cost advantages, although hydrophilicity, variability, and processing limitations can affect composite performance. Surface treatments and appropriate fabrication methods are therefore important for improving mechanical, thermal, and durability characteristics. Applications in automotive, construction, packaging, and biomedical sectors demonstrate the growing potential of these sustainable composite materials.

In India, agriculture is the primary occupation and source of income for the vast majority of the population. More than 58% of the population depends on agriculture for their living. Indian agriculture has been expanding for a long time with the help of related industries like sheep, goat, cow, chicken, and egg production. The world’s largest livestock population resides in India. For rural residents, the livestock industry is one of the most significant sources of revenue and employment. Agriculture and livestock are highly interdependent, with agriculture providing crop waste, a primary source of feed for livestock, while livestock provide manure and draught power to agriculture. The fact is that agricultural production and livestock raising work together to fully utilise a farm. In terms of giving families in rural and urban regions nourishing food, livestock is also crucial.

Because it is so straightforward, raising sheep and goats is more popular among landless, small, and marginal farmers who rely on common grazing and forest lands for food. Some of the factors responsible for the concentration of sheep and goat rearing among these categories include low capital intensity, prolific breeding, superior chevon/mutton quality, early sexual maturity, high-quality skin, low kidding intervals, good adaptability, no religious taboo against consumption, and steady returns.

Natural goat farming is one among various farming systems that are close to nature and sustainability. In Uttrakhand which has 13-15 lakh goats as per animal husbandry department goat farming or rearing mimics how an animal would behave if they were freely living in the wild which therefore provides a more humane experience for the animal.In Uttrakhand, districts like Uttarkashi, Joshimath etc goat rearing is a part of indigenous lifestyle and tradition and is passed down generationally. They operate on no cost or low cost models therefore by default it is close to natural farming. They allow their goats to graze in forests and bugyal which are free from pesticides and fertilizers.Natural goat farming shall aim to use natural breeding methods, minimize stress, taking preventative measures and thereby eliminate the use of allopathic drugs or minimalist use of drug and detain animal health and welfare.Breed selection in natural goat farming should be indigenous as it is genetically adapted to specific or extreme conditions. They will be more productive and production cost will be lower.

Goat production for milk and meat is an age old practice and goat is one of the first animals to be domesticated by man. Throughout the world goat is considered as ‘poor man’s cow’. Central Institute for Research on Goats has projected it as ‘Future Animal’ for rural and urban prosperity (Chakrabarti, 2019). In Switzerland goat is nicknamed as “Swiss baby’s foster mother’ (Chakrabarti et al, 2014). Prasad et al., 2013 opined that among various livestock production enterprises, goat farming is one of the important enterprises, which supports the rural households by providing gainful employment and steady income for the rural masses. The households cultivating less than 2.0 ha of land (marginal and small) are the custodian of more than 76% of the total goats in the country (Singh et al., 2018). The Small ruminants are also important in a diversification strategy that aims to reduce market and climatic risks and optimize the use of available resources (Ayo-Enwerem et al., (2017). Goat farming is an important component in smallholder farming systems in Tripura. Goat rearing has grown from backyard farming to the localized cluster based intensified entrepreneurship activity throughout the state. Goat meat is considered in state is a high value product due to high market price than the any other meat available in the state. Also animals are mostly liked by the native people because of their varied adaptability and presence of lean meat. Goat farming becomes very popular in Tripura because of availability of abundant grass and fodder resources throughout the state. It becomes a significant food source due to its ability to convert poor quality of feed into valuable human food. At present total goat population of the world is more than one billion and 90% are available in developing countries.

Goats are important components of livestock industry and play a vital role in the socio-economic structure of the economically-week rural community. Goats have been reared as domestic animals across the world. In India, goat keeping constitutes an important business of small and marginal farmers and the landless due to multifold advantages. These are short generation interval, high rate of prolificacy, easy management and marketing as compared to larger ruminants. Goat milk got the nutritional merit of the animal food products in shape of the animal protein. It is highly nutritious, contains essential vitamins and minerals and is an ideal food for the entire family. Though there are 28 registered goat breeds in India (NBAGR, 2017) constituting 26.4 per cent of the world population and are reared very few are having considerable milk producing animal of the country. Goats are highly efficient in converting food stuff, live vegetation, grasses and leaves forage crops, agro-industrial waste and byproducts and even waste cereals unfit for the human consumption to edible milk. Goat milk possesses 19 amino acids in its protein. It has 11 fatty acids in its butter fat, 6 vitamins, 8 enzymes, 25 minerals, 1 sugar, 5 phosphorus compounds, 14 nitrogenous substances all of which are suspended or dissolved in the fluid milk. Goat milk is as close to perfect food as possible in nature. Its chemical structure is amazingly similar to mother’s milk.

Among the small ruminants, goat is perhaps the most useful animal providing milk as well as meat. It is also superior in converting the feeds to meat and other products in a short period than most of the other livestock (Pandit&Dhaka,2005). Goats contribute milk, meat, fiber, skins and manure to the subsistence of small holders and landless rural poor. Goat meat accounted for almost 37 per cent of the total meat production in the country (Chandra, 2002). Importance of goats lies in the fact that human population is increasing very rapidly creating increasing demands for animal protein foods on the one hand and the feed resources for large ruminants are decreasing due to shrinkage of grazing lands on the other.Goats make important economic contributions in India. They are so vital to a large human population that their contribution to national economy cannot be overlooked. Goats require relatively much lower investments and facilities in terms of housing, feed, labour and health care. There is quick pay of dues because of fast multiplication and early maturity. Further, the risk involved in goat farming is much lower compared to other livestock and crops production.In Gujarat state, Population of milch goat has shown increasing trend as it was 23.36 lakh in 1951 and in year 2019 it found 48.68 lakh, which shows 47.98%, increased. As per the previous livestock census i.e. 2012, goat population declined by 1.84 percent which shows goat farming should give emphasis to enhance rural farmer’s income.

In natural farming practices, the adoption of natural and indigenous hive designs aligns with values of sustainability, simplicity, and care for bee wellbeing. Unlike commercial systems that rely on uniform Langstroth hives for maximum honey production, natural beekeeping focuses on affordable, locally sourced, and non-intrusive hive models that support bees’ instinctive behaviors with minimal disruption.

These hives are constructed to replicate bees’ natural nesting environments, such as hollow trees or crevices in rocks. They offer suitable insulation, darkness, airflow, and internal structure that support the colony’s natural rhythm. Rather than prioritizing honey output, these hives are intended to promote the long-term health and stability of the bees. Typically, natural hives remain in a fixed position, allow bees to build immobile combs, and need fewer inspections, which helps reduce colony stress.

Such indigenous designs uphold the core ideals of natural farming—selfsufficiency, minimal interference, and ecological balance—while also making beekeeping more practical and inclusive for small-scale and resource-limited farmers.

Natural nutrient management in India marks a transition from synthetic fertilizers to sustainable, eco-friendly approaches that focus on improving soil fertility, crop yield, and environmental integrity. Rooted in traditional Indian agricultural wisdom, these practices are regaining importance due to their compatibility with natural farming principles, minimal reliance on external inputs, and enhancement of soil microbial activity.
A key method is the use of Jeevamrut, a fermented culture made using cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, and soil from field bunds. This mixture significantly boosts microbial activity in the soil, facilitating nutrient availability and decomposition of organic matter. It is applied directly to the soil or as a foliar spray and is known for improving nitrogen fixation and phosphorus release.
Ghanjeevamrut, a dry, solid variant of Jeevamrut, is used as a base application before sowing. It delivers a slow release of nutrients and is ideal for areas facing water shortages or crops requiring prolonged nourishment.
Panchagavya, another traditional bio-input, is a blend of five cow-derived products—milk, curd, ghee, urine, and dung—alongside banana, coconut water, jaggery, and water. Used mainly as a growth promoter, Panchagavya enhances germination, root development, and crop immunity, and is often applied as a foliar spray.
Green manuring using legumes such as sunhemp, dhaincha, and cowpea contributes significantly by adding organic nitrogen to the soil. These crops also improve soil aeration, structure, and moisture retention when incorporated into the soil.

India is an agricultural country and nearly 70% of its population is dependent directly or indirectly on agriculture and related activities. At present, about 173 million hectares of land is under agriculture of which about 143 million hectare are cultivated without fallow. Mounting pressures of teeming population and shrinking land (due to urbanization) have necessitated the production of increasingly more food per unit area. In the efforts to increase the food production and make the country self-sufficient in food grains, modern technology adopted since ‘Green Revolution’ in the middle sixties has paid a significant role. Higher yields in almost all crops were possible with exotic and high yielding genotypes and availability of seeds, heavy doses of fertilizers, frequent irrigation, labour and repeated applications of pesticides. However, several genotypes particularly hybrids proved to be susceptible to pests and disease pathogens. Insect-pests, diseases and weeds are important biotic-constraints inflicting 20-25% losses in agricultural production. Farmers were therefore compelled to use pesticides extensively and frequently.

Plant protection is an integral part of the crop production and pesticides proved to be valuable means in plant protection to ensure plenty food. However, some of the pesticides are highly hazardous and their residue remains undetected and posses risk to human safety and health. Moreover, the repeated and incorrect applications without following need-based criteria have resulted in several secondary side effects ². For instance, increased resistance of pests to insecticides, harmful to beneficial and non-target insects and animals, undesirable effects on crop plants and environmental hazards. Safety has become a major worry in factories and outside the working places. Besides these, repeated and heavy pesticide applications add to the cost of production and misery to farmer. These ill effects of synthetic pesticides have aroused interest in alternate methods of plant protection.

The R&D thrust in the pharmaceutical sector is focused on development of new drugs, innovative/indigenous processes for known drugs and development of plant based drugs through investigation of leads from the traditional systems of medicine. In addition, many nutraceuticals are being consumed from unregulated markets for their perceived benefits in health care and improvement of quality of life.

Natural pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals are of great importance as a reservoir of chemical diversity aimed at new drug discovery and can be explored as potential antimicrobial, cardiovascular, immunosuppressive, and anticancer drugs. Around 80% of all such products are of plant origin; their sales exceeded $ 65 billion in 2003. Examples of plant products and derivatives used by the pharmaceutical industry include Paclitaxel, Vincristine, Vinblastine, Artemisinin, Camptothecin, Podophyllotoxin and such.

The nutraceutical marketplace in Europe is estimated to be $ 9 billion, while the US marketplace, estimated to be $10-12 billion in 2003, is expanding at a compounded rate of more than 20% per year. US Congress has fueled the rapid growth of nutraceuticals with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994. Globally, there have been efforts to monitor quality and regulate the growing business of herbal drugs and traditional medicine.

ABSTRACT

Endophytes are microorganisms that live inside the host plant tissues without causing symptoms of disease. There has been a crescent interest in the prospecting of these microorganisms as sources of novel and bioactive natural products. In fact, a significant number of interesting natural products have been reported in the last years. In this chapter some aspects regarding the endophytes are detailed: the relationship with their host plants, isolation, preservation, taxonomy, cultivation, frequently isolated strains, tropical endophytes, novel structures isolated and also their biological activities.

Key words: natural product, endophytic fungi, plant fungus interaction, secondary metabolites.

1.    Thomas Malthus suggested that population growth _____________.

(a) Would eventually lead to starvation and death as it exceeded the land’s potential to produce food

(b) Would lead to strong and better societies

(c) Would grow at a slower rate than land’s potential to produce food

(d) And the land’s potential to produce food would grow at the same rate

2.    Which population growth rate is likely to add relatively more to younger age population (youth effect on size of labour force)?

(a) Larger

(b) Smaller

(c) Uncertain

(d) Population growth rate does not affect the age structure of population

Goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (C. aegagrus) of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal, according to archaeological evidence that its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago. Beginning approximately 10,000 years ago, Neolithic farmers in the Near East started keeping small herds of goats for both their meat and milk, as well as for clothing and building with the hair, bone, skin and power. Undoubtedly, goat farming at the time was natural resource based and is organic in nature. Mechanical (1880–1930) and chemical (1920–1950) revolutions in agriculture, significantly influenced the modern day livestock farming predominately in non-organic form. Biological advances in the genetically modified organisms in the 70s further complicated the researcher–producer–consumer dynamics. As of today, there are over 750 million goats scattered throughout the world. Goats are found in nearly every country on the planet and in nearly every climate, each one with a different purpose. There are more than a thousand adapted breeds in existence. Goats have been used for milk, meat, fur, and skins across much of the world.

Agricultural production systems depend on natural resources viz. land, water, biodiversity, forests, pastures and wildlife. Farm activities can also have major impacts on the quality and availability of these resources well beyond the boundaries of the production system. Although natural resources are critical to agricultural production, farm households also frequently depend on them to meet other needs, such as fuel, construction materials and supplemental foods. Thus rural livelihoods are intricately linked to the condition of natural resources. Over the last 40 years as food production has doubled, agricultural production systems have expanded, with significant impacts on the natural resource base:

Introduction

In the post-world trade organization (WTO) era, the fantastic imagination of “one world for self-reliance”, has been shattered by the Corona induced calamity and the expansionists approach of a few rouge nations. Though the global welfare and peace has always been part of Indian traditional philosophy, approach and the concept of self-reliance, the practical boundary of self-reliance in its present context, starts from the country level itself. The idea of self-reliance at multiple levels (individual, family, society, and nation) has driven human civilization for most of its efforts, inventions and actions across the world.

A very high dependency of a large number of population on the natural resources in the developing world calls for proper management of natural resources for self-reliance. Since the early days of civilization, natural resources in the form of land, soil, water, biodiversity and climate have remained the very basis of supporting and sustaining life of human beings, plants and animals on the earth. However, in recent times intensive use and over-exploitation of pristine resources have robbed them of their legendry resilience. To effectively tackle the complex problems and to fulfil basic needs of livelihood, food security, poverty, employment, equity and environmental services, efficient and judicious utilization of natural resources for enhanced and sustained productivity is a matter of serious concern for policy makers, planners, scientists, conservationists and environmentalists.

Introduction

Since the dawn of the civilization when mankind started agriculture, soil erosion has been the single largest environmental problem and has remained so till date (Sullivan, 2004). This is so because removal of the topsoil by any means has, through research and historical evidence, been severally shown to have many deleterious effects on the productive capacity of the soil as well as on ecological wellbeing. Doran and Parkin (1994) captioned the impact of soil erosion in their popular maxim that “the thin layer of soil covering the earth’s surface represents the difference between survival and extinction for most terrestrial life”. Soil degradation implies decline in its capacity to provide ecosystem services (ESs) of interest to humans and useful to nature’s functions. Principal processes of soil degradation are erosion, salinization, nutrient and carbon (C) depletion, drought, decline in soil structure, and tilth. Examples of ESs provided by soil include ecological/supporting (biomass production, nutrient cycling), regulating (water purification and flow, C sequestration, temperature fluctuations), provisional (food, fiber, fuel, and forages), and cultural (aesthetical, spiritual, and cultural). Erosion-induced degradation diminishes soil’s capacity to provide ESs, and support ecosystem functions.

Although fertile top soils could be lost when scraped by heavy machineries (Ngwu et al., 2005), the key avenues of topsoil loss include water erosion and wind erosion. Sometimes erosion can be such gradual for so long a time as to elude detection in one’s lifetime, thus making its adverse effects hard to detect. Eswaran et al., (2001) propose an annual loss of 75 billion tons of soil on a global basis which costs the world about US $400 billion per year. A review of the global agronomic impact of soil erosion identifies two severity groups of continents and reveals that Africa belongs to the more vulnerable group (Biggelaar et al., 2004). Soil erosion by water seems to be the greatest factor limiting soil productivity and impeding agricultural enterprise in the entire humid tropical region. This is evident in many regions of Africa (Dregne, 1990), mainly in the humid and subhumid zones of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where population pressure and deforestation exacerbate the situation and the rains come as torrential downpours, with the annual soil loss put at over 50 t ha⁻¹ (FAO, 1995).

In simple words natural resources can be defined as any part of our environment such as land, air, minerals, forest, rangeland, wild life, fish and human beings.

The sum total of all physical, chemical, biological and social factors which compose the surroundings of man is referred to as environment and each component of these surroundings constitute a “resource”.  The natural resources are land, water, air, minerals, forests, rangeland, wild life or even human beings known as natural resource.

The five basic natural resources are energy, matter, space, time and diversity.