eChapters

History in general reveals chronological account of important events, contribution of persons who significantly influenced the thinking of their era and the interpretations of the observed facts or phenomenon over the period of time. The progress in plant pathology leading to the major land mark in mycology, plant bacteriology and plant virology will be discussed in chronological order for easy and better understanding.

Cluster Sampling (Meaning and Concept)

Cluster sampling is a special type of sampling which is used when we have to make a large survey such as a survey for the whole country and whole state etc. to know the privilege. Under this method, the total population is divided into some recognizable subdivisions known as clusters. Out of all the clusters, a given number of clusters are chosen at random. All the items covered by the selected clusters are included in the sample.

A sampling technique in which we divide the whole population into groups or subgroups in such a way that there is heterogeneity within each group and homogeneity among the groups and then a simple random sample of n groups is selected from a total of N groups of population and finally all the units of selected clusters from our sample.

Milk yield is one of the most important economic traits and modelling the lactation curve is important with respect to the unique shape with ascending, persistent and descending phases. The non-linear relationship of daily milk yield with days in milk has led to extensive research in modelling the lactation curve. The nature of the lactation curve, different models, identifying the best model of fit, factors affecting the curve parameters and orthogonal polynomials to model the curve are discussed in this chapter.

1. Introduction

Higher educational institutions especially the agricultural universities and institutes have multifaceted mandate which includes teaching, research and extension. Scientific information is generated at rapid pace in the form of research papers, project reports, conference/Seminar proceedings, Theses/ Dissertations, books and so on. It is necessary to manage, preserve and share the intellectual output to the academic community for innovations and betterment of the society. Technological developments, open access and open archive movements have facilitated easy access to information. Open access literature available in public domain removes access as well as price barriers. Realizing the importance of preserving valuable digital and print material of an institution idea of developing institutional repositories was invigorated. It is online digital content free of cost and mostly free from restrictions of copyright and licensing. In other words, it is royalty free literature which can be applied to any digital content that are born digital or the older works digitized later in life. Researchers are not well aware of the various channels to enhance the visibility of their work such as scholarly journals and conferences. Further they don’t identify existing library provisions that could help them to share their work on different platforms due to lack of awareness about it. So there is need to create awareness among masses about the institutional repositories and its role in disseminating scientific output of an institution. Institutional repositories are the need of hour for to showcase the research output of an institution.

Climate change is a complex problem involving varied interactions between the environment, natural resources (land, crops, animals and water) and people. These interactions are likely to change the ecological and agricultural landscape, and therefore influence agricultural and animal production. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has dictated that global warming/climate change could lead to many environmental problems i.e., Drought, floods, crop and animal farming, food production, and health hazards etc. Agriculture is closely dependent on the endowment of natural resources and environmental conditions of soil and climate. India is divided into many agro—climatic zones depending upon rainfall, agriculture and soil fertility. The agro climatic conditions of India and the various other factors that largely determine the cropping patterns vary throughout the country. Warangal district falls into two agro climatic regions namely Southern Telangana Zone and North Telangana Zone.

1. Introduction

The emergence of food borne illness due to contaminated food is one of the most frequently occurring event and challenge for the food processing industry. This has resulted into economy as well as energy requirement to counter the food borne pathogens. Some of the important pathogenic microorganisms of concern are E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, salmonella, etc. To address the food safety and quality issues, several non-thermal food processing technologies have been developed in the last decades, with an aim of achieving food safety without significantly affecting the quality of the food product. Cold plasma in one of the non-thermal processing technology, which has shown promising results as evidenced by recent scientific investigations.

The plasma is known as fourth state of matter after solid, liquid and gas state. Plasma contains diversity of energetic species including ions, electrons, atoms, excited molecules and charged particles. In a plasma, a significant number of electrons have such a high energy that no nucleus can hold them. When a gas is subjected to heat or an electric field, some of the atoms become ions and the gas is said to be ionized. An ionized gas in its normal condition, can conduct electric current to a limited extent. If the heat or electric current becomes extreme, many of the atoms become ions. The resulting super ionized gas, which can conduct a large and sustained electric charge. Plasmas are used in several materials processing industries like textiles, electronics, paper and glass industries etc.

Amongst agricultural commodities milk is the single largest contributor to gross value of output followed by paddy, wheat, oilseeds, pulse and sugar. It is not only that, milk is also least contributor to inflation.Thus it can be said that milk is the lifeline of Indian economy. Unlike developed countries, unique feature of Indian milk production system is that about 70% of it is produced in about 70 million household dairy units in rural areas.Dairy farming has always been a subsystem of agriculture in such household units which entirely depends on the recyclable crop residues. Moreover the milk production system has been mainly confined to landless labourers, small and marginal farmers.Their poor socioeconomic condition, religious sentiments for cattle and utilitarian attitude towards dairy farming coupled with poor milk production potential of dairy animals has remained a major impediment in the overall development of the system. Livestock is an important source of supplementary income. Mixed farming has been serving as an insurance against natural calamities, while supporting food security and nutrient recycling. India has over 500 million livestock, which include cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats. Among them, cattle and buffaloes are popular for milk production. As milk is an important part of the Indian diet and bullock power is essential as draft animal for farming and rural transportation.

India is emerging as a global economic power and the economy is growing at an average of 8 9 per cent for last couple of years.The Dairy sector is contributing significantly to the national economy and with 112 Million Metric Tonns (MMT) milk productions during 200910; it ranks first in the World. It provides gainful employment and supplementary income to large number of people. Dairy sector contribute significantly on poverty reduction in rural areas as income from milk in the total income of underprivileged family is as high as 75 to 80% during drought and the employment generated is relatively high. Dairying has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural families and has assumed an important role in providing employment and income generating opportunities.

Teeth

Estimation of age from appearance of teeth

The teeth are used as a tool for estimation of age of animal. The time of eruption and the stage of wear of incisors are usually considered as parameters for this purpose. The time of eruption of the incisor teeth in ox has been described under the chapter on gross anatomy of head. The eruption time of incisors in other species is described under the chapter on comparative anatomy of head and neck. To differentiate the deciduous teeth from the permanent teeth is important criteria in this process. The deciduous teeth are smaller, their neck is visible just above the gum line and these are usually whitish in colour. The permanent teeth are larger, their crowns are slightly wider and the neck which separates the crown from the root is concealed inside the gums. These are usually yellowish in colour. In ox, all the four incisors (deciduous) are erupted at the age of 4 years.

The permanent teeth start wearing from fifth year onward. The process of wearing commences on mesiolabial side of the masticatory surface. When the entire masticatory surface is in wear, the outer and inner enamel rings are completely separated by yellow dentin and that particular tooth is considered as leveled. In the process of wearing, the gum starts receding and the neck of the tooth is exposed. In ox, usually the wearing begins at I-1 at the age of 6 years, this is followed by I-2 at 7 years, I-3 at 8 years and I-4 at 9 years. Up to the age of 14-15 years usually all incisors fall off but those remained are reduced to small round pegs.

17.1 INTRODUCTION

Flower consumption is growing at an alarming rate of 20 per cent per annum at global level and India is, today, one of the world’s largest consumer base and fastest growing retail destinations. Commercial floriculture is today a potential money-spinner and an economically viable agri-business.

Cut flower trade in terms of export oriented units dealing with rose and gerbera is flourishing. Other cut flowers like gladiolus, tuberose, lilum, chrysanthemum, etc. are also being cultivated along with traditional loose flowers like jasmine, rose, crossendra, marigold on a higher scale. However, growing awareness of Indian consumers and popularity for cut flowers is creating demand for diversified flower crops. Further, trade of some flowers in the market is responsible for gluts. Thus, there is an urgent need to diversify the floriculture industry by introducing and adoption of anthurium as a cut flower with unique shape and high longevity.

Precision farming is an advanced approach for the flower growers to enhance their income. It mainly includes information and technology of farm management system to identify, analyze and manage variability within fields for optimum profitability, sustainability and protection of the land resource. Precision farming is applied for increasing efficiencies that can be realized by understanding and dealing with the natural variability found within a field.

Anthurium is taking a good place in market with high value. Farmers are undertaking anthurium cultivation and in this direction, precise farming technology will help the farmers to grow the crop with good quality and higher production per unit area.

1. Introduction

Uttarakhand is extremely vulnerableto climate-related changes due to its varied geography and rich glacier mass. The relationship between climate change and agriculture is not a new phenomenon. In the last 50 years, there has been a lot of academic focus on dealing with climate change issues in agriculture. Climate change is believed to affect agriculture by inducing changes in farmer’s behaviour, quantity, quality, cost of production, changes in production, consumption, prices & trade patterns; changes in market responses at global & local levels and these changes not only depend on the domestic and international adaptive capacity their economic impacts also vary by region, by sector, and by stakeholders’ groups. Climate change is a major global environmental problem and also an issue of great concern to all countries, irrespective of their size or level of development. It is established that adverse impacts are likely from increased frequency of extreme weather, floods & droughts, and submergence of coastal areas due to sea level rise and extreme climate variability. It is considered that mountain regions are vulnerable to climate change & it will have direct impacts on livelihoods as most of the economic & livelihood sectors are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Pineapple is a monocarpic perennial herb. Each stem flowers only once and dies after fruiting, similar to bananas, before a side shoot takes over. After the pineapple plant reaches a certain size, natural inflorescence initiation (flowering) occurs in response to decreasing day length and temperature (Bartholomew, 2003). Flowering of Smooth Cayenne pineapples grown under an 8-hour day length was encouraged by a night temperature of 20°C, whereas f lowering was delayed by temperatures of 15 and 20°C, and totally inhibited by 30°C.Flower initiation usually starts in November and lasts through the winter. Flowering in nature is highly irregular, and some plants can fail to produce fruit. Thus, growth regulators such as ethylene (25-50 ppm) and NAA (25 ppm) are used in industrial practise to force plants to bloom. The numerous radish-purple sessile flowers are spirally arranged on the axis, each with a pointed bract. To explain the emergence of developing inflorescence, this stage is also known as the red bud stage. The spike-like inflorescence contains 100 to 200 florets. The petals are white at the base and bluish-purple above the calyx at anthesis. They are ligulae form in shape, about 1.6 cm long and 5 mm wide, and are about 1.6 cm long and 5 mm wide (Collins, 1960).The outer f lower petals are very close together, allowing only small insects to reach the f lower; they have 14 to 20 locules, resulting in a capacity of 6000 to 7000 seeds per 150 floret fruit. After pollination, fruits with 2000 to 3000 seeds are not uncommon (Collins, 1960).

Introduction

The objec tive of genomic research in any species is to sequence the whole genome and to decipher functions of all the different coding and non-coding seq,uences. The technology for large-scale DNA sequencing has enabled the scientists to undertake genome sequencing project in a realistic time scale. Since the time of first ‘large’ genome sequencing in bacteriophage λ in 1983, the projects on different groups have been completed. Eg. Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Mus musculus, Pan troglodytes, Homo sapiens.

There are certain species which have been chosen for genome projects as model organisms. A model organism is a non-human species that is used to understand biological phenomena with a thought of gaining insight into the working of other organisms. They are chosen on the basis of their small genome in size, diploid genetics with a few chromosomes, rapid life cycle, easily transformed, well positioned in plant phylogeny, small stature for plant growth in a small space, large number of seeds produced, convenient for discovery of gene-trait discovery at low cost and speed and well investigated. They include,

• Monocots – Oryza sativa

• Dicots – Arabidopsis thaliana

• Temperate grasses – Brachypodium

Indian dairy sector has made significant progress over the last few decades. Despite three decades of cooperative movement in India, however, a large proportion of milk and milk products in India continues to be marketed through the ‘informal or unorganized sector’. Although the share of organized market has steadily increased over the last few decades, the informal sector comprising middlemen, private milk traders and direct sale from producer to consumer, still accounts for nearly 80 percent of existing milk marketing pattern in the country. Milk contributes more to the national economy than any other farm commodity more than 10.5 billion dollars in 1994-95 (Dairy India 1997). In the context of poverty and malnutrition, milk has a special role to play for its many nutritional advantages as well as providing supplementary income to some 70 million farmers in over 500,000 remote villages (Dairy India 1997).  In their study, Datta and Ganguly (2002) reported that if the current growth continues for the next twenty years (the nation has been growing at a rate between 5 and 7 percent over past five years), milk consumption is likely to more than double by 2020. So above the discussion drives us to analyse the marketing behaviour of dairy farmers.

The study area, Tamilnadu, was selected purposively and out of seven agro-ecological zones in Tamil Nadu, western region has been selected purposively as it highest share in both the bovine population and milk production in the state. And both organized and unorganized milk marketing system working in this zone with largest number of milk plants.

INTRODUCTION
 
Once a crop is harvested, it is almost impossible to improve its quality. Therefore, proper storage conditions—temperature and humidity—are needed to lengthen storage life and maintain quality once the crop has been cooled to the optimum storage temperature. In modern times, the storage of perishables has become more sophisticated because of the demand for a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables at all the times of the year and because of need to spread peaks of production over longer periods to maximize profit and reduce waste. But in our conditions, storage of fruits and vegetables is practiced to avoid the low prices during the glut season in anticipation that prices will increase during the lean period or off-season. Certain crops like potatoes and apples can be stored for long period whereas for the crops peach and plum, the storage period is very short. However, for both long-term as well as short-term storage, high level of technical know-how about the crop is necessary for successful storage. There are a few important factors, which need to be taken into account before storage of the produce.

Abstract

The amaranth as a pseudocereal has shown its role in the development and diversification of agricultural products and food which is a priority trend for world agriculture. The amaranth has excellent nutrient profile and technological advantage in various food formulations in comparison to other conventional cereals. Recently, current interest in amaranth also resides in the fact that it has a great amount of genetic diversity, phenotypic plasticity and is extremely adaptable to adverse growing conditions, resists heat and drought, has no major disease problem. This crop is among the easiest of plants to grow in agriculturally marginal lands in hilly area. Moreover, these contain significant amount of bioactive components such as phytosterols, squalene and polyphenols along with good amount of micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins. Amaranth consumption has been shown to improve plasma lipid profile in animals. Methanolic extracts of amaranth have demonstrated anti-hyperlipidemic,anti-diarrheic, anti-fungal and anti-malarial properties. Specific polyphenols such as rutin, isoquercetin and nicotiflorin and phenolic acids and amides with antioxidant activity have been found in amaranth seeds. In addition to above, amaranth, seeds are gluten free and thus they are currently emerging as healthy alternatives to gluten containing grains in gluten free diet for celiac people.

India is endowed with 8118 kilometers of coastline and access to 5.3 lakh square kilometers of continental shelf to facilitate marine fishing.195210 kilometers long river and canal system, more than 6 million hectares of water bodies under reservoirs, ponds, Fish is an integral part of food and culture in India. Indian coastal region is rich in aquatic bio diversity with various identified fish species and also in aquatic resources. India with its vast and varied marine and inland resources stands third in world total fish production and second in inland fish production. India’s fish production has increased from 5.6 million tonne during 2000-2001 to 6.9 million tonne during 2006-2007. During the year 2006-07, the country witnessed foreign exchange of Rs.8363.53 crore through export of sea food. Fish processing industries in India are gaining importance in recent years due to increase in demand of processed food by the developed countries. In India fishery sector provide livelihood to an estimated 10 million people and the Inland fisheries are of particular importance to the rural poor accounting for about 15% of total global employment (FAO, 2000). Sustainable utilization of available resources with appropriate farming system approaches will increase fish production and also will generate employment opportunities.

Abstract

Ennore is an industrial region having many industries on chemicals, fertilizers, refineries etc., discharging their effluents into the Buckingham canal. Present study focuses on the impact of tsunami on water quality of Buckingham Canal segment found to the north of Chennai city, Tamil Nadu, India, in addition to the human interferences. Water samples were collected from surface and near bottom at five locations covering about 20km stretch of the Buckingham Canal during high tide on the spring tide day before (December 2004) and after (January 2005) the mega tsunami. Various water quality parameters measured were pH, Temperature, Salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Suspended Particulate Matter, Nutrients and Chlorophyll. The maximum depth observed in the canal was 2.5m in December, whereas a shallow depth of less than 0.5m was recorded in January. The water quality analyses confirmed the incursion of saline water (upto 32ppt) into the Canal. Not much variations were observed in Dissolved Oxygen and pH. Because of the organic pollution in the canal, the water was rich in nutrients before tsunami, whereas due to the large quantity of seawater invasion, dilution had occurred after tsunami. High turbidity was observed in January 2005 indicating the tsunami induced disturbance and resuspension of the sediments from sea bed.

Keywords: Tsunami, Ennore, Tamil Nadu, Buckingham Canal.

Introduction

Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) grows in dry and arid regions of Arabia and in regions of India mainly Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Western Uttar Pradesh and drier parts of Deccan. The tree is locally known as Jandi or Khejri (India), Jand (Pakistan) and Ghaf (Arabic). It is the State tree of Rajasthan, India. Prosopis cineraria are small to medium size evergreen thorny tree. It is also known as “wonder tree” and “king of desert” as all the parts of tree are useful. The importance of the medicinal value of this tree has been highlighted in our ancient literature. The bark of the tree has abortifacient and laxative properties and is also used as a remedy for rheumatism in the central provinces. The leaves are of high nutritive value and locally called ‘’Loong’’. Leaf paste of P. cineraria is applied on boils and blisters, including mouth ulcers in livestock. The smoke of the leaves is considered good for eye troubles. Leaf extracts of P. cineraria have been reported to show antibacterial, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidative activities . Pods are brown to chocolate in colour on ripening, each containing several seeds embedded in sweet dry yellow pulp. P. cineraria pods are locally called ‘’sangar’’ or ‘’sangri’’. The pod is considered astringent in Punjab. Sangri pods are known to prevent protein and mineral deficiency. Cooked pods of Khejri are used as a functional food in Rajasthan, for the amelioration of numerous illnesses. Pods of khejri have been studied for various phytochemicals like alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavanoids, flavanols and total phenolics. As this plant is found in water stress (or deficient area) so antioxidant potential of pods has also been investigated. Acetone and methanol extracts of Sangri pods are the most potent bioactive extracts. Nutritional analysis shows it as a good source of proteins and minerals like calcium, sodium and potassium. This study demonstrates that P. cineraria pods may be employed as nutraceutical food with rich nutrition, disease prevention and health promoting effects.

Global demand for cut flowers is increasing steadily at around 10 per cent per annum. The share of India in this flourishing trade estimate at over US$ 40 billion per annum is negligible at 0.4 per cent. Floriculture include cut flowers, pot plants, cut foliage, seeds, bulbs, tubers, rooted cuttings and dried flowers or leaves. At international cut flower trade, flowers such as rose, carnation, Chrysanthemum, gerberas, gladiolus, gypsophilla, liatris, nerine, orchids, anthurium, tulips and lilies are preferred. Roses, gerberas and carnation are grown in greenhouses. The open field crops are Chrysanthemum, roses, gaillardia, lily, marigold, aster, tuberose etc. In India, floriculture is emerging as an important economic activity, earning foreign exchange. It has become a potential farm income enterprise. The domestic markets for high-quality flowers have been growing at 10- 20 per cent per year for the last few years. India’s flower business is estimated to be worth $ 400 million at retail, and about $ 100 million in international trade. Flower exports are about $ 30 million, constituting mainly of roses and dried flowers. Both Central and State Governments have been more than proactive and have made large investments in this industry in assisting production and marketing.

A large variety of floricultural crops can be produced in protected environment as economic cash crops for the benefit of farmers. Problems associated with floriculture in hills are small, scattered land holdings and sparsely located population. There is a lack of irrigation facilities due to scarce availability of water resources; widespread natural vagaries like drought, hail storms, frost etc. There is a serious gaps in application of advanced floricultural technologies for improving quality and productivity; high pressure on land use for different purposes like cereal crop production, fodder production, etc. due to low per capita land availability; difficulty in technology dissemination due to difficult terrain, hostile climate, poor communication facilities and sparsely located population. Consuming markets within the state are very less which result in dependence upon distant markets of the county. There is a high post-harvest losses due to lack of modern post-harvest management system; very high temperature differentials in production areas and consumer markets; perishable nature of flowers, resulting in high post-harvest losses during transportation; and distant location of production areas from main roads. High cost of marketing, lack of organised system of marketing, lack of bargaining power with individual growers due to small production levels; inadequate availability of market intelligence to farmers resulting in imbalances in distribution of produce in different markets.

A well planned projects requires pre-feasibility study to explore the opportunity to find out problems, avenues of co-ordination etc. A government being a regulation spells out priotize for national and regional economy and by the frameworks for resource allocation.