eChapters

Prevailing climate and weather conditions play crucial role in production and quality of various fruits including mango (Mangifera indica L.). In India, mango has 2.3 million ha area with annual production of 20.5 million tonnes and average productivity of 8.9 t/ha. However, erratic precipitation and high temperature during flowering and fruit setting induced mainly due to climatic disturbance in the recent past had adversely impacted the production potential of mango in subtropics. Analysis of twenty years (2001-02 to 2021-22) weather data of ICAR CISH, Lucknow, indicated that average annual rainfall of the region is 956.41 mm spread over 25-30 number of rainydays.

Introduction

India is an agriculture dominated country. According to the report of the Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households by the NSO, 54.6% of the total workforce is engaged in agriculture and allied sectors which encompasses for 17.8% of India’s total GVA for the year 2019-20. The number of operational holdings in the country is estimated at 14.64 crores (Agriculture Census 2016). As we can see from Figure 1 the operational landholding of Indian farmers is increasing day by day. The average size of operational holdings was 1.15 hectares in 2010-11 which has declined to 1.08 hectares in the year 2015-16 (Agriculture Statistics at a Glance, 2021).

Pineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] is an important commercial tropical fruit crop under the family Bromeliaceae. Centre of origin of this fruit can be traced back to Brazil, South America. It is eulogized as “Queen of Fruit” or “Friendship Fruit” or “Haven Fruit” or “Golden Queen”. The word ‘Pineapple’ came from the Spanish word “Pina” based on appearance of fruit which resembles a pine cone. Now, pineapple is termed as “Boon for dry land agriculture”. Pineapple is an introduced crop in India and was first introduced in Goa by Portuguese. The largest producer of pineapple is Thailand and India ranks 6th in the world pineapple production. In India, Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala are the leading pineapple producers. Pineapple is a CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism), monocarpic (each stem flowers only once and dies after fruiting), herbaceous perennial plant (Baruwa, 2013) and is suitable for cultivation in xerophytic conditions (Baraily and Deb, 2018).

The earliest written references to pineapple are found in the reference of Christopher Columbus, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, and Sir Walter Raleigh. They found pineapple growing in the West Indies mainly for for food and wine making. The Portuguese sailors were responsible for early dissemination of the pineapple and introduced it to Saint Helena in 1502. They also carried it to Africa and India by about 1550. Cultivation of pineapple had spread over most of the tropical countries including some of the islands of the South Pacific before the end of the 16th century. Costa Rica, Brazil, China, India, and Thailand are now major growers of pineapple.

Fish has a vital role to play in mitigating the protein deficiency in developing countries. Fish has been described as the meat of the third world, and fish contributes significantly in developing and developed countries as a source of employment, income generation and foreign exchange earnings. The minimum per capita consumption of fish of an average Indian should be 11 kg per annum, as recommended by the ICMR. However, the per-capita consumption of fish in India is only 5 kg per annum, whereas, per capita consumption of fish in Japan was 62.6 kg, China - 30 kg and Bangladesh - 35 kg (Goswami et al., 2012).

1. Introduction

The growing prevalence of obesity and obesity associated disorders as well as its impact on public health has received increased attention in recent years. As a result, obesity is now considered one of the world’s leading public health problems. A study published in the noted medical journal Lancet says India is just behind US and China in this global hazard list of top 10 countries with the highest number of obese people. The study - titled ‘Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013’ - used data collected by international bodies and organizations in various countries like India over three decades. China and India together accounted for 15 per cent of the world’s obese population, with 46 million and 30 million obese people, respectively. According to the study, the number of overweight and obese people globally increased from 857 million in 1980 to 2. 1 billion in 2013. This is one-third of the world’s population.

With lifestyle disorders forcing more and more people to reel under excess body weight, even relatively younger people are developing joint disorders and knee pain. Excessive weight is associated with a series of health problems, including blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular ailments. Therefore there in an urgent need to envision effective anti-obesity strategies through effective interventions.

Basic thought of Sampling

The data is very important in every field for decision making whether it is medical sciences, engineering sciences, agricultural sciences and management sciences etc. for this we need to plan the correct data. If we don’t have correct data then based on that we cannot plan good decisions and it will provide misleading results. So, to achieve or plan the right data it is necessary to have the right technique which is to be used while collecting data and an appropriate method of data collection is preferred. From this, the two important questions arise (i) what are those methods required to obtain paramount data or sample and (ii) how best to use the data or sample to estimate the characteristic of the whole population i.e., what are those methods by which we can study our population parameters to draw a proper statistical inference.

Introduction

India ranks second in global silk production next to China and first in raw silk and silk fabrics consumption, accounting for 70% with a production of 34,923MT in 2021-22. In total silk production traditional crossbreed silkworms contribute 3/4th and 1/4th bivoltine breed (CSB reports). An important strategy for creating jobs and offering a variety of entrepreneurial prospects for rural development is sericulture, which has a solid agricultural foundation. Sericulture is comprised of both agro-based and industry-based activities.

Melon or muskmelon (Cucumis melo L., 2n = 2x = 24, family Cucurbitaceae, mostly andromonoecious, cross-pollinated as well as self-pollinated) has latest global production close to 30 million tons where top ten producing countries are China (16.0 million tons), Turkey (1.8 million tons), Iran (1.6 million tons), Egypt (1.1 million tons), India (1.0 million tons), Kazakhstan (0.9 million tons), USA (0.8 million tons), Spain (0.7 million tons), Italy (0.6 million tons), Guatemala (0.6 million tons). India produced 1.2 million tons melons from 54000 ha acreage during 2017-18 giving a productivity of 22 tons/ha (MAFW, 2018).

US melons encompass the netted, salmon-flesh cantaloupe; the smooth-skinned green fleshed ‘Honey Dew’, the wrinkled-skinned, white-fleshed ‘Golden Beauty’ and several other dessert melons. Other forms with different fruit characters (white-fleshed, green-fleshed, having striped thin skin and juicy) are commonly found in India and in Orient as indigenous land-race cultivars. These are getting displaced by the cultivar types as cantaloupe, Madhuras and Galia due to their long shelf life.

Melon is mainly cultivated for the consumption of the fruits which can be harvested immature; in this case, the fruit is not sweet and can be eaten raw, cooked or pickled. In most cases, the fruit is harvested at maturity with high sugar content (mainly sucrose). Fruit is mainly eaten raw; marginal uses are cubes canned in syrup, in “fruits confits”, candies, ice-creams, biscuits and also in cosmetics. Locally, seeds can also be consumed (Pitrat, 2008).

1. Introduction

Libraries play a crucial role as community centers that promote education, culture, and individual growth at a time when information is the currency of advancement. Rural libraries, however, confront unique difficulties that set them apart from their urban counterparts. Rural libraries often struggle with limited funding, being geographically isolated, and having difficulty obtaining technology infrastructure. Yet, in order to guarantee that rural libraries can provide the same caliber of service as their counterparts in larger cities, pricing and accessibility become vital factors. And in light of all of that, they continue to be vital community hubs that contribute significantly to education, cultural enrichment, and lifelong learning.

Open source solutions hold a lot of promise for addressing these problems.Open source software solutions are more affordable and flexible than proprietary software systems, allowing them to be tailored to the specific needs of any rural library. Among other reasons, the library staff finds it easier to catalog documents when they use these kinds of systems. Because these systems use simpler circulation techniques, they assist them with saving expenses while guaranteeing higher user involvement.

Introduction

The concept of database is the approach to information organization in computer-based data processing. (Date, 1995 and Everest, 1986).

A Geographic Information System is as good as the data contained in it. Accurate and efficiently organized data are critical to the durability of the system. Data collection, capture and organization will occupy much of the time in building a GIS solution. The analysis potential of a GIS will depend on the database. It is essential to understand database concepts to practice GIS. It is erroneous to view these GIS databases as mere stores of information. The database is used to abstract very specific sorts of information about reality and organize it in a way that will prove useful during subsequent analysis. The database should be viewed as a representation or model of the world developed for a very specific application.

Conversion of real world geographical variation into discrete objects is done through data models. They represent the linkage between the real world domain of geographic data and computer representation of these features. Data models discussed here are for representing the spatial information.

Pansy belongs to the family Violaceae, genus Viola and species tricolor. Pansy also known as butterfly flower, cat face. Pansies are annuals or short-lived perennials, grow 15-30 cm tall and have heart-shaped leaves at the base and oblong leaves growing from the stems. The pansy is quite durable and a “flower for all seasons”. The fragrant and edible blooms are desirable in gardens. Pansy popularity increases possible due to its ease of growing. Whether grown from seed or bedding plants, pansies are relatively disease and pest free blooming prolifically for the gardener’s enjoyment. The pansy is a group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other Viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis. The pansy is used in phytotherapy. The pansy is the symbol of Free thought. For Viola species, there is strong resistance to cold, flowering early and long flowering period. Also be used to cover a large area on the ground flower beds, its colour range, forming a unique landscape in early spring, but also in the flower bed with the string of red, petunia colour, or for potted plants and planted tank, decorative balconies, bay windows and stairs.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

The modern pansy, Viola x wittrockiana, is thought to have derived from Viola tricolor, a native of central Europe. The center of origin for Viola was continental Europe. Viola is widely distributed in temperate areas in the northern hemisphere and in S. America, with centres of diversity in S.E. Europe, E. Asia and S. America; isolated endemics occur in Africa (equatorial high mountains and the Cape), E. Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Hawaii. V. sororia as defined by McKinney (1992), is widely found across the United States and Canada. Each subspecies has a smaller distribution. V. sororia var. sororia is found in the mid to eastern United States and southern Canada, V. sororia var. affinis, is found in western and extreme northeastern sections of the United States and Canada, V. sororia var. missouriensis is found in the eastern United States, and V. sororia var. novae-angliae is found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, Quebec and New Brunswick. Of the four varieties only V. sororia var. sororia and V. sororia var. missouriensis are native to New Jersey (McKinney, 1992). V. sororia var. sororia is found in drier areas than the other four subspecies and often in waste grounds (McKinney, 1992) or on the forest floors of open woods in semi-shaded conditions (McKinney, 1992).

Estimation of variance is primary for any breeding program as all the genetic parameters are dependent on these estimates. The properties of an estimate, their assumptions, type of data, availability of data, and computational requirement make it important to understand the method of estimation of variance components so as to make a wise choice that would suit the breeder’s requirement. This chapter explains the methods of estimation of variance with merits and demerits of each and the reader could use these as a guide to choose the right method of estimation.

The genetic parameters are the basis for any animal breeding program and the important parameters such as heritability, repeatability and genetic correlation are ratios of (co)variances and their reliability depends on the accurate estimation of variance components. Estimates of variance components are used extensively in animal breeding.

Introduction

Seaweeds are referred to as the wonder plants of the sea, macrophytic marine algae which are a primitive type of plants lacking true roots, stems and leaves. They usually grow in shallow coastal and marine water. Based on the occurrence of pigments, seaweeds are classified into three groups: Green seaweeds (Chlorophyta) having the pigments chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b; Brown seaweeds (Phaeophyta) having the pigment fucoxanthin; and Red seaweeds (Rhodophyta) having the pigment phycoerythrin.

Introduction

Bamboos are group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants (up to 60 centimeter/day) in the world. Bamboo cultivation, especially in intensively managed and productive plantation has attracted a great interest in recent years leading to huge demand of good quality planting material. The easiest and most common method for propagation is seeds. However, in bamboo due to a long flowering cycles, seeds are not available every year and being a cross-pollinating species seedling population show much variability in characters. Species like Bambusa vulgaris and Bambusa balcooa flowers rarely and do not produce seeds making propagation absolutely dependent on vegetative means. Vegetative propagation offers a tremendous scope for mass multiplication of many commercially important species. Bamboos are vegetatively propagated through clump divisions, rhizomes, offsets, layering, marcotting, culm cutting, branch cutting, macroproliferation and through in vitro techniques. Propagation through clump divisions, rhizomes and offsets yield limited number of plants. Layering and marcotting techniques are not fit for commercial production. In vitro methods offer great scope for mass multiplication, but require high initial cost and skilled manpower and thus are not viable for decentralized forest nurseries.

21.1 Introduction

Plants and insects share a wonderful relationship. Both are dependent on each other at different levels and chemicals emitted by plants connect them to a large extent.  “Plants” contribute to a major share of occupancy on earth and makes several organisms such as insects & microbes and also humans to depend on them for their survival. This dependency leading to several interesting interactions between plants & insects which are often utilized by humans for their own benefit. Plants maintain incredible communication with their associated organisms. Since plants are rich banks of chemicals and constantly emit them in to its immediate environment which contributes in communication between insects and plants. Insects are the major organisms that have a long relation with the plants and there are several incredible ways how plants can interact with insect species.

INTRODUCTION

Vegetables and fruits have many similarities with respect to their composition, methods of cultivation and harvesting, storage properties and processing. In fact many vegetables are considered fruits in the true botanical sense. But the difference between the two is that vegetables are derived from various parts of plants e.g. roots, leaves, stems, buds and so on whereas, fruits are the mature ovaries of plants with their seeds. The edible position of most fruits is the freshly part of the pericap or vessel surrounding the seeds. The other difference between the two is that those plant items that are generally eaten with the main course of a meal are often considered to be vegetables, whereas those that are eaten alone or as a dessert are considered as fruits. This is the distinction made by food processors, certain marketing laws, and the consuming publics.

Okra has higher average nutritive value (ANV) of 3.21 which is higher than tomato, egg plant and most of the cucurbits except bitter gourd (Grubban, 1977). Its roasted seeds are substitute for coffee. It is one of the export potential crop where it accounts to 60 per cent of fresh vegetables (excluding potato, onion and garlic) exported from India. Importing countries are Middle East, Western Europe and USA.

Origin and Distribution : It belongs to the genus Abelmoschus established by Medikus, 1787, however de Candolle (1824), treated it as section of Hibiscus.   In 1924 Hochreuntiner reinstated the genus Abelmoschus of Medikus stating that calyx, corolla and stamen fused together at the base and fall as one piece after anthesis (deciduous) where as in case of hibiscus these are persistent. Though the genus is of Asiatic origin, the origin of cultigen Abelmoschus  esculentus is variable like India (Master, 1875) Ethiopia {de Candolle (1883) and Vavilov (1957)}, Western Africa (Chevalier, 1940 and Mardorct, 1947) and Tropical Asia (Grubban, 1997) and probably its might have entered India at the end of 19th century. Cultivated okra is of old world origin. It arose as a cultigen in the Abyssinian region (Ethiopia). Wild species are indigenous to Africa.  Three wild species Abelmoschus tuberculatus, A. moschatus and A. ficulneus are native to India. Introduced to Mediterranean region to Europe and Asia. But during Columbian period it was introduced to America.  It still turnout to be polyphyletic (many places) in origin. A. tuberculatus (Indian origin) and an unknown species cross resulted into A. esculentus.

1. INFLORESCENCE

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches.

1.1. Types of inflorescence

Inflorescences can be simple or compound.

1.1.1. Simple inflorescence

Inflorescence of sessile disc florets forming the capitulum

1.1.1.1. Indeterminate

Indeterminate simple inflorescences are generally called racemose. The main kind of racemose inflorescence is the raceme. The other kind of racemose inflorescences can all be derived from this one by dilation, compression, swelling or reduction of the different axes. Some passage forms between the obvious ones are commonly admitted.

1.1. Livestock breeds

Denotes and established group of animals / birds having the similar general body shape, colour, structure and characters which produced offspring with same characters.

1.1. Cattle

1. Indigenous breeds

Milch: Sindhi, Sahiwal, Gir and Deoni

Dual: Hariana, Ongole, Tharparkar, Kankrej

Draught: Kangayam, Umblachery, Amritmahal, Hallikar

Underexploited

Unexploited fruit crops, jackfruit, tamarind, jamun, karonda, star fruit, etc having high nutritive value, are gaining popularly among the people. Similarly, many exotic fruits, Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp), Avocado (Persea Americana Miller), Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.), Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L), Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims), Durian (Durio zibethinus L.,) Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour) have been introduced in India. Exploitation of their genetic diversity could provide nutritional and livelihood security. There is a need to know about nutritional composition and health significance of these crops. Therefore, efforts have been made to know their potential nutritional and health benefits